3 stars from New Zealand's 2024 Women's T20 World Cup win who could get WPL contracts ft. Eden Carson

The boons of winning a World Cup are manifold and it's New Zealand's turn to find those in the coming months.

The White Ferns, who defeated South Africa to clinch the Women's 2024 T20 World Cup title in Dubai on Sunday, will not only get better financial benefits, fame, and respect but will be the most sought-after players in T20 leagues around the world.

Last year, the Women's Premier League (WPL) only had three New Zealand players participating: Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine, and Lea Tahuhu who was signed by the Gujarat Giants as a replacement for Lauren Cheatle. As the league gets more competitive in its third season in 2025, the teams will try to look for younger, in-form performers around the world bringing in skills that aren't easily found at home.

Below, we have listed three perfect matches of the World Champions and the WPL. Check them out.

---

#3 Georgia Plimmer

Opener Georgia Plimmer had a breakout World Cup; one in which her veteran partner Suzie Bates seemed to have relayed the responsibility of White Ferns' top order to her. With 150 runs in six innings at an average of 25 and a strike rate of nearly 120, she was the highest run-scorer for New Zealand in the tournament.

Plimmer would be an asset to any T20 side, especially in India. She is powerful and can hit big hits down the ground. The right-hander doesn't require a lot of time to settle down and can play her game from the first over, helping her team dominate the powerplay, while her step-out technique against spin is all class.

She's also just 20. There's so much she's going to add to her game but there are good signs aplenty: in the final, it was she who pushed South Africa on the backfoot with her two boundaries in the first over against the legendary Marizanne Kapp. New Zealand built on that intent to put up a match-winning total.

---

#2 Rosemary Mair

Rosemary Mair was always destined for success. Typical pacers' injury concerns delayed her but only until this World Cup, where she emerged as the top wicket-taking fast-bowler with 10 scalps in six matches at an average of 11.70.

That's no mean feat in a World Cup in the UAE dominated mostly by spinners. There weren't any cheap wickets either. The 25-year-old was trusted to bowl the toughest overs, starting the powerplay, ending the powerplay, in the middle amid a big partnership, and also closing the innings and did a fabulous job.

Her exploits included a three-wicket haul in the final as well as a four-fer against India in the opening game, which set the ball rolling for the Kiwis. Even when she didn't pick as many wickets, she maintained an excellent economy rate of 5.09.

How did she do that? Firstly, it was her smarts: there were hardly any bowlers so good at executing wide lines, using extra bounce and seam movement at the perfect moments. Then, she had an assortment of well-disguised slower ones that stuck in the sluggish surfaces and surprised many a batter.

These are the skills that would make every WPL team builder salivate. What works for pacers in the UAE generally has a good chance of working in India too. Pacers who can bowl with equal adeptness in every phase of a T20 innings are rare too so Mair might not just get signed but get signed for a big price in the WPL.

---

#1 Eden Carson

You might know her as the giggling queen. If you don't, you have not only missed some of the most wholesome moments of the World Cup but also one of the best spinners in the world. She took nine wickets in six matches at an average of 16.33.

But that's not what gave her the nickname. That came after the last group stage game against Pakistan, where she was asked about her feelings about being a World Cup semi-finalist, and after the semi-final, the question was about being a finalist. The questions brought giggles which went viral.

But they were asked because Carson had put up stunning Player of the Match shows in both games. Against Pakistan, she took 2/7 and 3/29 against the West Indies. As most of those wickets came inside the powerplay, she killed the games early for New Zealand, allowing Mair and others to bowl with more freedom.

It felt like the coming-of-age of an excellent powerplay overs spinner who can dominate the first six overs for years to come. She's brilliantly accurate and can bowl at various trajectories and angles, while hardly doing anything against her field. She's the kind of bowler WPL can use as an X-factor on turning tracks.

Off-spinners generally aren't at the top of investment priorities for overseas players in Indian leagues but Carson's skills and temperament might make her the exception.