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Former England spinner Alex Hartley predicts that India’s debut World Cup victory will make them a juggernaut in women’s cricket.

In a historic moment at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team defeated South Africa by 52 runs, which is expected to mark a turning point for the game in India.

The capacity 45, 000 crowd stayed until the very end, cheering every run and erupting into ecstasy when Deepti Sharma, the tournament’s MVP, took the winning wicket.

According to Hartley, “India could become a juggernaut of women’s cricket, where they could get to is frightening.”

More and more people are going to want to be like Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Jemimah Rodrigues, according to the domestic system and the game.

Because of what India has just accomplished, more and more young girls and boys will be picking up bats to play cricket.

South Africa lost their third successive global championship match in a row, but the city turned into a sea of blue as crowds of people poured out of the stadium wearing shirts with the names Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana in droves.

India, who won the World Cup with England in 2017, put forth the pressure to win because they are a team that billions of people watch.

India’s players, who knew the magnitude of their victory and what might come next, echoed Hartley’s prediction and confidence in India’s boom.

Amanjot Kaur, a 25-year-old all-rounder, said, “This means a lot, we have created history.”

This is only the beginning, though. We will be a dominant force in every way, and I’m glad we were able to do it when it was most needed.

For Harmanpreet, Deepti, and Smriti Mandhana, the three players who played in India’s final 50-over World Cup final and the agonizing nine-run defeat by England at Lord’s in 2017, this was the crowning moment. Amanjot is one of the crop of exciting, emerging talents.

With Harmanpreet as their superstar leader, Mandhana has been the tournament’s poster girl, her face appearing on billboards and television ads everywhere, while Deepti has been their most consistent performer.

For a player who is typically so active on the field, she allowed the emotion to take over as she was surrounded by her team-mates for the eagerly awaited trophy lift.

After each World Cup that we traveled to as a team, we discussed what we needed to do, according to Harmanpreet, 36.

The BCCI really put their trust in us, and that’s why we’re standing here. “They expected something special.

When the Scottish League Cup wraps up in May, will Martin O’Neill still be in charge of Celtic? Or will the holders take charge of the quarter-final, semi-final, and final of the current season’s competition?

After guiding his side to a 3-1 win over Rangers at Hampden in extra time, the interim manager said, “I don’t even know when the final is.”

People would assume they were at it if almost no other manager admitted such blissful ignorance. But not 73-year-old O’Neill.

The Northern Irishman claimed earlier this week that he had no idea what fixtures would be waiting for him when he took over for Celtic 20 years after his first. He was given 10 minutes to agree to a return to Parkhead on Monday.

On Wednesday, Falkirk came out on top. Then Rangers on Sunday. His 17th victory following his 28th Old Firm game.

O’Neill later admitted that he would “secretly” love to still be in charge by the 14 December final against St Mirren.

He did, however, reiterate his belief that the club would “make inroads” for a permanent replacement in the upcoming international window.

In a moment, we’ll make the comparisons to Robin Hood, but O’Neill’s merry men deserve mention.

The Celtic squad appeared devoid of imagination and intention a week prior to Celtic’s comfortably defeat by Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.

In what turned out to be Brendan Rodgers’ final interview, he asserted that he was more driven than ever to change their fortunes. He resigned just over 24 hours later.

O’Neill responded to the request to pick up the pieces in a very short amount of time.

There was a sense of unity and urgency in Celtic’s spirited four-goal win over Falkirk in midweek, his first game back on the touchline.

The real test, however, was against Danny Rohl’s somewhat resurrected Rangers, with all due respect to John McGlynn’s side.

Celtic dominated the opening period. After a lively attacking display, they had a one goal lead at half-time and had a man advantage.

However, “a loss of momentum” in the second half allowed the Rangers’ 10 men to rally back, force extra time, and give an already ill-fated statesman a few more years.

O’Neill told BBC Scotland, “It was an incredible game. We scored first, but one offside goal was denied, and we did great.

We had the upper hand, but I was telling Assistant Shaun Maloney that we needed a goal to end the game, and Rangers got the penalty six or seven minutes later.

Many Celtic fans were relieved to see the club legend return once the initial shock over his return had subsided.

The Celtic powerbrokers were aware of what they were doing with this one despite the fans’ scorching heat.

O’Neill even managed to win Hearts for the title and maintain his word without having his reputation ruined.

His place in club folklore is still intact, even if things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan on Sunday or at any point during his interim leadership. However, a semi-final victory over Rangers has undoubtedly boosted spirits.

At the national stadium, fans serenaded him while he searched for the songbook from a decade ago. Another bizarre moment from a bizarre week.

O’Neill has fewer players to turn to than he did during his first spell. No Henrik Larsson, Neil Lennon, or Lubo Moravcik are present.

However, there are some players who are determined to demonstrate their worth.

The four other players in Celtic’s goalscorers Johnny Kenny and Callum Osmand, who have been advised to “get a couple DVDs of the Swede,” and providers Arne Engels and Auston Trusty, were latterly not in favor of Rodgers.

O’Neill has at least provided a path for players who otherwise might have been rocking up suited, booted, and seated in the stands whether or not they stay for the final.

The final mention in this mad week must go to O’Neill’s matchday fit, on that note of attire.

Surprisingly, nothing else from Parkhead this week was the sight of him adoring an Adidas Originals tracksuit on the touchline.

O’Neill referred to the tracksuit against Falkirk as “really tight nylon.” “I resembled Robin Hood”!

James Morrison mistakenly played in his final tournament for the DP World Tour with his 13-year-old son as caddie, but he ended up doing so.

The 40-year-old Englishman was prepared to call it a day before Sunday’s HotelPlanner Tour Rolex Grand Final victory in Mallorca.

After sealing victory with a two under par final round of 70, he welcomed his son Finley on the 18th green, where Italian Stefano Mazzoli had won by three shots.

“I actually knew this would be my last event,” I said. He claimed that this had completely messed up the situation.

At the end, it went so far right, but I couldn’t care less because I couldn’t feel my arms on the swing. A victory is a victory.

Really, I have sympathy for him (Finley). Tomorrow morning’s school alarm is half past six. He is incredible. I cherish him dearly. He did a great job.

The teenager was hired by the Club de Golf Alcanada as the caddie.

With the victory, Morrison moved up 30 places in the Road to Mallorca rankings to close out the regular season and join 20 other players who would guarantee a spot on the European tour.

He makes his first full-time appearance in 15 years, which leaves him without 14 cuts.

Navi Mumbai, ICC Women’s World Cup

India 298-7 (50 overs): Shafali 87 (78), Khaka 3-58

South Africa 246 (45.3 overs): Wolvaardt 101 (98), Deepti 5-39

By 52 runs, India won.

Jubilant India held their nerves despite the enormous expectations to defeat South Africa by 52 runs and claim their historic first Women’s World Cup victory.

Due to the rain, the showpiece event in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd of 45, 000 people was delayed by two hours, but no overs were lost and Navi Mumbai’s ageless showpiece event took place.

The Proteas set their record one-day international run-chase with a dynamic 87 from 78 balls, backed up by Deepti Sharma’s 58, who started the match with a competitive 298-7 opener.

With a flawless 101 from 98 balls, Captain Laura Wolvaardt put South Africa in command, who was 211-6, and who needed 88 from the final 10 overs, for her second successive century.

However, India’s charge to victory came to an end with her dismissal of Deepti’s 42nd over through a juggling catch from Amanjot Kaur at deep midwicket off Deepti, and the crowd stayed until the very last ball, with the game drawing to a close at midnight local time.

South Africa’s 246 all-out performance, which confirmed their third successive final defeat, had lost their previous two T20 finals, was emotionally different.

Verma, who was only called up for the semi-finals after Pratika Rawal injured her, added figures of 2-36 to her knock to also emerge as an unlikely hero with the ball. Deepti, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, ripped through the Proteas batters to finish with 5-39 as the bedlam began.

India, which lost three group-stage games in a row before winning, makes an incredible turnaround with this.

This was the final of two rival teams that were well-versed in near-misses: South Africa, which lost to Australia and New Zealand in the shorter format in 2023 and 2024, and India, who were both familiar with near-misses in 2017 and at the T20 edition in 2020.

However, for India, especially given their dominance of their men’s side and their love of cricket, it always seemed like a question of when they would conquer the world rather than when.

A slow start, one-sided games, washouts, and, crucially, India losing three games in a row, leaving their semi-final spot in some jeopardy, made this tournament claim to be the tournament that could change the world order of women’s cricket.

But it was the unexpected semi-final victory over favorite Australia at this same venue that set the tone and caused crowds to line up outside the stadium for more than 24 hours after the first ball and search for seats.

The Women’s Premier League, India’s franchise T20 tournament, has helped them grow and gain the experience of playing in front of large crowds, which had already begun.

With both teams competing for their first World Cup title, the pre-game discussion focused on who could handle the situation. India faced enormous expectations, while South Africa faced a question of whether to use the underdog tag in their favor.

The captain who won the toss had to bowl first because the rain had ruined any chance of starting on time in India’s high-scoring semi-final against Australia, as demonstrated by Smriti Mandhana and Verma’s calm powerplay victory, which was exemplified by 64-0.

Before Mandhana was caught behind off Chloe Tryon and Verma chipped Ayabonga Khaka to mid-off, South Africa’s bowlers actually appeared consumed by the situation as they bowled too wide to the openers, who eased off the boundaries.

The Proteas’ ground-fielding was excellent, but they were also guilty of putting down Deepti on 35 and 37 and a crucial catch by Anneke Bosch with Verma on 56.

Given the lateness of her inclusion in the team and the magnitude of the game, Verma’s shock at the loss of a World Cup century was palpable. Its attacking nature, combined with Mandhana’s reputation, helped it put the pressure on the tournament’s poster girl, Mandhana.

South Africa had a chance to regain control when Jemimah Rodrigues, the semi-final hero, fell for 24 two overs after Verma, but India showed impressive composure in keeping partnerships ticking over, led by Deepti, before Richa Ghosh’s dynamic 34 from 24 balls ensured the victory.

Even with the context of India’s record chase, there was a sense that they did not have enough to feel at ease, with only 69 in the final 10 overs for the loss of three wickets.

Although South Africa’s hopes were largely influenced by the performance of their incredible captain and opener, who scored a 169 in the semi-final against England, there was always the impression that the game had been their final.

Wolvaardt, however, appeared to have packed up the Guwahati pitch and continued with a net session, batting with such skill and elegance that left doubt in the enthralled crowd.

The first breakthrough came when Amanjot swooped in one motion from midwicket to run out Tazmin Brits before Shree Charani pinched Anneke Bosch for a duck to sway India’s momentum back in their favor.

Before Harmanpreet Kaur surprisingly turned to Verma with the ball, Sune Luus and Wolvaardt quickly rebuilt, and Marizanne Kapp, the former caught and bowled, was thrown out for four from her subsequent over.

The pressure on Wolvaardt forced to play a shot of aggression off the same bowler forced her to do a handy supporting act of 35 before she was bowled by Deepti, which led to the run-rate increase.

Every Indian player raced toward Amanjot, who took the catch on the third try, to underscore the significance of the wicket, and Wolvaardt, who was so frequently composed and expressionless, assumed that the game had ended with her.

The leading wicket-taker came in behind the lead run-scorer when it was most important, making for a cruel end to a generation of talent.

We wanted to break this barrier at this point, and we want to make this a habit as well. This is only the beginning because there are so many big events coming up.

Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa’s captain, said, “I couldn’t be prouder of this team for the campaign we’ve had. India played fantastically well throughout, but we were outplayed today.