India beat South Africa for historic first World Cup win

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.