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At last, 50 years on from their debut on the world stage, India’s dream came true: a maiden World Cup win, in front of a deafening full house in Navi Mumbai, as they defeated South Africa by 52 runs.
Laura Wolvaardt struck a magnificent century, going back-to-back after her winning effort in the semi-final, but while she finished the tournament with a run-tally of 571 – the most by any woman in a World Cup – the ultimate prize belonged to India.
There were two history-making heroes for India. The first was the unlikely figure of Shafali Verma, playing in this match only due to the ankle injury sustained by Pratika Rawal in the group stages, but who chimed in here with 87 from 78 balls and two wickets.
Then, just as this final threatened to become a nail-biter, Deepti Sharma – who herself had contributed 58 runs with the bat – bowled the perfect yorker to bowl Annerie Dercksen, and followed it up with the key scalp of Wolvaardt as Amanjot Kaur ran round from deep midwicket to take a diving juggle-catch. For Amanjot it was third-time lucky with the catch: for India, third-time lucky in a World Cup final.
For South Africa, though, the nightmare: after the despair of 2023 and 2024, another World Cup slipping through their fingers – literally. Shafali and Deepti both contributed half-centuries, while Richa Ghosh struck 34 off 24 balls as India reached 298 for seven – and yet all had offered up chances.
Deepti reprieved herself via use of DRS on 19, overturning an incorrect on-field leg-before decision which replays showed was pitching outside leg. But the fact that she survived until a last-ditch run out off the final ball of the innings was largely due to being dropped on 35 and 38.
Both of those were tough chances; more egregious were the two catches spilled at deep midwicket by Anneke Bosch. Perhaps the most straightforward – and certainly the most costly – was the first of those, as Bosch grassed Shafali’s slog-sweep when the India opener was on just 56.
For the 21-year-old Shafali, this was the culmination of a surreal week: Tuesday, approved as an injury replacement for Pratika Rawal; Thursday, dismissed after five balls in the semi-final; Sunday, hitting a career-best 87 from 78 balls in a World Cup final. After struggling with cramp in her calves, she fell 13 runs short of a century, unable to loft Ayabonga Khaka high enough over mid-off – but it proved anyway to be the winning hand.
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And then there was her bowling, which took everyone by surprise – not least the South Africans. Before Sunday, Shafali had bowled just 14 overs in 30 ODIs. But in Navi Mumbai, in a World Cup final, her 15th and 16th proved to be deeply significant. First, Sune Luus pinged back a limp return catch. Then Marizanne Kapp poked at one down the leg-side and was caught behind. From 114 for two to 123 for four and South Africa were suddenly behind the eight-ball.
They had already beaten the odds once in a run chase in this tournament, against this same opposition, after a thundering effort from Nadine de Klerk at the death. Here, Dercksen smashed Radha Yadav for the biggest six of the tournament, 84 metres, while de Klerk threatened to punish India for their poor use of DRS, given not out leg-before to Deepti – a decision India were unable to review after burning through both their reviews earlier in the innings.
But it was Deepti who had the last word, adding a fifth wicket to her tally: de Klerk sent a catch flying up to cover, Harmanpreet Kaur plucked it out of the air, and the pair converged with joy to begin a celebration which will no doubt last long into the night.
