Over the last 20 months, you would have heard South African sportspeople speak about their desire to play for something greater than themselves, and you would probably have believed them. They come from a country where social wounds are fresh and open, and where sport has, from the earliest days of democracy, provided a balm.
In 1995, the Springboks won the rugby World Cup at home with Nelson Mandela as an ambassador. They have since gone on to lift the trophy three more times, most recently when they beat New Zealand in the final last year. In 1996, the national men's football team won the African Cup of Nations, and last year the women did the same. South Africa's cricketers have yet to do something similar. Since February last year, they have had three chances, two of them thanks to the women, and this time they aim to deliver.
"We want to unite the country," Chloe Tryon said at the pre-final press conference. "We wish the whole country was here with us. It would mean a lot to us. And we just want to play for everyone - our family, our friends, everyone that's just sitting at different places watching and coming together and just supporting. We're a very diverse, colourful nation. We just want to make them proud. We want to make everyone proud. And we just want to bring them all together. We're hoping to fly that South African flag high."
To understand why it matters, meet the team that represents the self-titled Rainbow Nation and read their stories:
Laura Wolvaardt could have been a medical doctor or a musician. Instead, she is leading South Africa at a T20 World Cup and is already their most decorated white-ball batter. Wolvaardt is the leading run-scorer in ODIs and T20Is for her team and achieved both after accepting the job as full-time captain. At first, she was concerned the leadership would affect her batting and she was right. Since taking over, she has upped her T20I average to 46.10 from 36.20, her ODI average to 68.21 from 49.38 and has scored a century in every format.
Tazmin Brits would have represented South Africa by throwing the javelin at the 2012 Olympic Games but she was in a car accident that fractured her pelvis, burst her bladder, and could have ended her life. After she cheated death, she worked in a grocery store packing vegetables, and played cricket socially until the chance came to take it more seriously. But Brits could not afford to quit her day job and CSA had to step in to provide a stipend to "give her an opportunity to focus on cricket", as CSA head of pathways Eddie Khoza put it. "She celebrates every moment and her passion for the game is something else."
Anneke Bosch made her international debut in 2016 but after two low scores, she had to wait three years to be considered for the T20I side and five to return to ODI cricket. In the interim, she found herself at what she described as a "crossroads", when she considered quitting the game to focus on her career as a biokineticist. "Cricket looked like it wasn't going anywhere and it wasn't going to work out. I had almost decided to let cricket go," she told ESPNcricinfo. She stuck at it, got re-selected, and found herself given the No. 3 spot for this tournament where scores of 18, 11 and 25 and a strike rate of 72.97 meant there were questions over her going into the semi-final. But in the most high-pressure of all situations, Bosch stood up to Australia and sent South Africa to a second final with an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls.
Marizanne Kapp wears her heart on her sleeve. She has battled health issues through an unknown condition, which sometimes floors her, and personal issues, through a relationship that is in the cricket public's eye. She has still managed to become a champion allrounder. In the last two years, Kapp has had Covid four times, could not fulfil her dream of playing at the Commonwealth Games after her brother-in-law suffered an accident, as she returned home to be at his side in the Intensive Care Unit. Eight months later, her wife Dane van Niekerk's plans to play at the home T20 World Cup were derailed after she failed a fitness test. As van Niekerk retired, Kapp had to play under the same administration that had shunned her other half. She did, and was part of a side that took South Africa to the final. The national anthem is her cue to cry and expect the tears to flow on Sunday in Dubai.
Chloe Tryon became the first bowler to take a wicket with her first ball in a T20I, and she did it at the World Cup in 2010. She was just 17 at the time and considered the future of the South African game. But two years later, she had back surgery for the first time and has struggled with a recurring injury for a large part of her career. In 2020, she was told her career was done. Tryon chose not to believe that. She has made comeback after comeback, re-established herself as a power-hitter, a versatile bowler who can be used in the powerplay, and a senior member of this South African side.
Sune Luus was made South Africa's interim captain when van Niekerk broke her ankle in early 2022 and continued in that job for over a year. She has spoken about the challenges of trying to make the team her own, in the space where they waited to find out if their permanent skipper would return. Despite that uncertainty, Luus led the team to their first T20 World Cup final and then chose to step away from the job. After doing that, Luus found runs hard to come by. She did not score a T20I half-century for 14 innings this year and as she battled for runs, she also decided to change her bowling style. Luus went from bowling legspin to offspin in her search for consistency. She has re-found form and her love for the game at this World Cup, where she has operated as a foot soldier and done it with a smile.
Annerie Dercksen grew up on a farm which did not have access to the state electricity supply and her family had a small diesel-powered generator for essentials. Though that gave her a rugged, robust childhood, it also meant that if her parents wanted to boil water, they had to turn off the television. She was a 2000s kid, who read about cricket in the newspapers, and wasn't ever sure she could play at a high level. Now, she is shaping up as South Africa's finisher.
Nadine de Klerk was being primed for big things as a seam-bowling allrounder until she lost both her national and her WBBL contracts in 2022. She told ESPNcricinfo that she felt as though her career was "about to crash" and had to work her way back into contention. A much bigger and more difficult loss was coming. On the eve of South Africa's T20 World Cup semi-final last year, de Klerk's grandmother died. She left the team camp and it was uncertain if she would return for the big match, but she did, and with Shabnim Ismail at her side, bowled South Africa to a history-making victory.
Sinalo Jafta checked herself into rehab for alcohol abuse 126 days before the 2023 T20 World Cup, knowing that she would put her place in the squad at risk. But the social media abuse she faced had become too much and consoling herself with a bottle was costing her her sanity. Jafta did not dream she could come back to win a silver medal with South Africa at the T20 World Cup. She has since spoken about the dangers of doom scrolling and has become a lively, energetic presence behind the stumps, a mentor to some of South Africa's younger players and a role model for the Gen-Zs.
Nonkululeko Mlaba comes from KwaMashu, a township in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, just 16 kilometres from Kingsmead but a socio-economic world away. She needed assistance to find accommodation closer to training facilities and CSA once again stepped in. It was not long ago that she was the No. 2 T20I bowler in the world but she then saw her ranking tumble. Mlaba berated herself for the dip and actively sought out ways to improve. She is up to No. 7, is the South African with the most wickets at the T20 World Cup currently, and at 24, has years in the game to come.
Ayabonga Khaka was born in the town of Middledrift in the Eastern Cape in what has been described as "impoverished" circumstances by Khoza. She played in the streets with boys, dabbled in football, and was eventually offered a place at former international Mfuneko Ngam's academy at the University of Fort Hare. She also took up a study post for a degree in human movement science. She honed her craft of discipline and accuracy to become one of the most difficult bowlers in the world to get away. With her quiet confidence, she is the unsung hero of the South African attack and knows she is playing for something far greater than herself. "It's possible," she said. "Anything you want, you can do it."
And that is just the playing XI. On the bench, South Africa have Tumi Sekhukhune, who may consider herself unlucky to have missed out on selection, Ayanda Hlubi and Seshnie Naidu, from the Under-19 World Cup squad, and Mieke de Ridder, who has played four internationals and has gained invaluable experience.
There's also the coaching staff. Interim head Dillon du Preez, who found himself thrust into the job, Paul Adams, who has been through the ringer as a player and then at the Social Justice and Nation Building hearings, and Abrahams, who is a seasoned men's provincial coach now imparting his knowledge where it is having the most impact. They represent the full spectrum of South Africa, across every divide, and their goal on Sunday is to cross those and bring a nation together in the most cohesive and beautiful way: with victory.