World Cup success well worth the wait for Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet Kaur

• India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur felt numb after finally tasting success at the Women’s Cricket World Cup at her fifth attempt

Harmanpreet Kaur has waited a long time for the ultimate success and that’s why lifting the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup trophy was extra special for the inspirational Indian captain.

Harmanpreet was one of five players at the tournament to be appearing at their fifth World Cup, with the India skipper having made her international debut at the 2009 edition of the event in Australia in a 10-wicket victory over Pakistan.

Years of heartbreak followed for Harmanpreet and India – including a narrow loss to England in the 2017 final at Lord’s – so it was no surprise that the veteran was lost for words after the side’s 52-run triumph over a gallant South Africa in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

“I’m just trying to express what I’m feeling. I’m numb, I’m not able to understand,” Harmanpreet said.

“It’s just that there were ups and downs, but the team had self-belief. I’ve been saying this since day one. We weren’t looking to the left or right. We were only looking at our main end goal.”

The victory wasn’t only special for Harmanpreet, with a host of Indian greats joining the current team on the field after the match to join in the celebrations in front of a parochial crowd of almost 40,000 people in Navi Mumbai.

Among those former India legends enjoying the celebrations were Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and Anjum Chopra, with the trio long-time teammates of Harmanpreet and alongside the 36-year-old when she made her international debut in Australia back in 2009.

“Jhulan di was my biggest support,” Harmanpreet said of former India captain Jhulan Goswami.

“When I joined the team, she was leading it and she always supported me in my early days when I was very raw and didn’t know much about cricket.

“Anjum di, too. Both of them have been a great support for me and I’m very grateful that I got to share a special moment with them.”

“It was a very emotional moment. I think we all were waiting for this. Finally, we were able to touch this trophy.”

There was also a special moment after the match for Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana, with the experienced duo reflecting on the many occasions they have shared the field together prior to the World Cup.

“I’ve played many World Cups with her (Mandhana) and every time we lost, we went home heartbroken and stayed quiet for a few days,” Harmanpreet said.

“When we returned, we always said, ‘we have to start again from ball one’. It was heart-breaking because we played so many World Cups – reaching finals, semi-finals, and sometimes not even that far. We were always thinking, when will we break this?

“As soon as we got to know that our venue had been changed to DY Patil Stadium, we all got so happy because we’ve always played good cricket there and the biggest thing is the crowd — it’s always so supportive.

“So, when the venue changed from Bangalore, we all started messaging in the group. We were manifesting. We said, ‘The final is going to be there — we won’t leave it now.’

“As soon as we reached Mumbai, we said, ‘We’ve come home now, and we’ll start fresh.’ We didn’t want to look back at previous World Cups — we left them there. The new World Cup had just started.”

Proteas look ahead after falling short in World Cup decider

South Africa Captain Laura Wolvaardt believes her team continues to evolve and an elusive ICC trophy will arrive if they can continue to perform at the highest level.

The Proteas fell at the last hurdle once again when the lost to hosts India by 52 runs in an exciting finale to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup on Sunday and have now been beaten finalists at the three most recent ICC tournaments following runners up finishers at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2023 and 2024.

While disappointed to have lost narrowly to India in the final of the Women’s Cricket World Cup, Wolvaardt reflected on the growth her side had made since they reached their first major final on home soil in 2023.

“I think after that first one (2023 T20 World Cup) at Newlands, I think we sort of had domestic contracts introduced after that. So that’s really big for our depth as a team,” Wolvaardt said.

“The last one (2024) I think sort of just made us sort of a bigger name in cricket, I guess.

“I think we’re the team that consistently is making finals now, whereas before it was maybe like a one-time thing.

“So I’m really proud that we’re able to reach three in a row and I think it shows that we’re doing something right domestically and from a squad perspective, consistency wise.

“Hopefully we can keep reaching finals and one day, one day we can win one.”

The consistency of Wolvaardt at the top of South Africa’s batting order was one of the major reasons behind the Proteas’ run at the World Cup, with the right-hander amassing a whopping 571 runs at an average of 71.37 to break the record of Australia’s Alyssa Healy for the most runs at any single edition of the tournament.

Three of Wolvaardt’s teammates (Tazmin Brits, Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp) also scored more than 200 runs across the tournament, while Nonkululeko Mlaba (13) and Kapp (12) were nestled highly among the leading wicket-takers leaving the South African skipper with plenty of positives to take from the event.

“I think it’s been a great campaign for us – to make it all the way to the final is really awesome,” Wolvaardt noted.

“I think we’ll still look back at this tournament as a lot of positives as we’ve played some really good cricket throughout this tournament.

“At one stage we won five games in a row or something like that, which is pretty big for our group.

“Just searching for that consistency which is something that we don’t necessarily have in bilaterals. So really proud that we’re able to perform in, in big tournaments.”