Thursday Nov 20, 2025
Thursday Nov 20, 2025
Monday, 3 November 2025 06:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Amanjot Kaur is engulfed by teammates after taking the catch to dismiss Laura Wolvaardt
India were crowned the new champions of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup when they beat South Africa by 52 runs in a highly charged final at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai yesterday.
It was the first time in 25 years that a new winner has emerged in the Women’s Cricket World Cup, dominated by Australia and England. Prior to yesterday, India had been in two losing Women’s Cricket World Cup finals, while for South Africa, it was their first final.
Chasing a target of 299, South Africa were bowled out for 246 in the 46th over despite a record-equalling century from their Captain Laura Wolvaardt, who became only the second player to score a hundred in a World Cup semi-final and final (men’s and women’s) after Australia’s Alyssa Healy in 2022.
The match winner for India was spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who followed her half-century with 5/39 to produce one of the all-time great World Cup final displays. Rather fittingly, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur took the catch to dismiss the dangerous Nadine de Klerk to set off a series of celebrations around the stadium and in the country.
This was the moment India had been waiting for, which they felt they were perhaps going to be denied when they lost three matches on the spin. But after yesterday’s win, that didn’t matter anymore.
One had to spare a thought for South Africa. They came into the final chasing history, just like India, and their skipper gave it a proper shake with a century, but in the end, they just could not muster enough to get over the line.
Invited to bat first, India scored the second highest total in a Women›s World Cup final – 298-7 after Australia’s 356-5 against England in 2022. The pitch, though under covers for more than 3 hours, looked to have very little impact on how the ball behaved in the first few overs. While Marizanne Kapp could not get enough swing, Ayabonga Khaka failed to control her lines, making life easy for the openers Smriti Mandhana (45 off 58 balls, 8 fours) and Player of the Final Shafali Verma, helping them build a 104-run stand for the opening wicket off 106 balls. South Africa managed to slow things down a touch after the powerplay, and despite a few dropped chances, they did well to not leak too many runs in the last 20 overs.
Smriti, Jemimah Rodrigues (24), and Harmanpreet (20) all had starts, but failed to kick on. Shafali looked the part with her 78-ball 87 that included 7 fours and 2 sixes.
Scores:
India Women 298-7 (50) (Smriti Mandhana 45, Shafali Verma 87, Jemimah Rodrigues 24, Harmanpreet Kaur 20, Deepti Sharma 58, Rich Ghosh 34, Ayabonga Khaka 3/58)
South Africa Women 246 (45.3) (Laura Wolvaardt 101, Tazmin Brits 23, Sune Luus 25, Annerie Dercksen 35, Deepti Sharma 5/39, Shafali Verma 2/36)
