India’s women make history, outclass South Africa to claim first ODI World Cup crown
NEW DELHI,NOV 3 : India’s Shafali Verma plays a shot during the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final match between India and South Africa in Navi Mumbai, India, Sunday,.
Mandhana, fluent with her cuts, sweeps and signature off-side drives, fell for 45 off 58 balls to Chloe Tryon (1/46), ending a fine campaign with 434 runs at an average of 54.25 — the highest ever by an Indian batter in a Women’s World Cup, including a century and two fifties.
Ayabonga Khaka (3/58), after a shaky start, dismissed Shafali with a well-disguised delivery that Sune Luus safely pouched at mid-off. Shafali, dropped earlier by Anneke Bosch, fell 13 short of a maiden World Cup hundred.
Jemimah, India’s semifinal hero, was undone by a sharp low catch from skipper Laura Wolvaardt off Khaka, while Harmanpreet’s promising partnership of 52 with Deepti ended when she was bowled by Nonkululeko Mlaba attempting a late cut.
Amanjot Kaur’s brief stay ended with a brilliant one-handed return catch by Nadine de Klerk, as India’s middle order faltered. But Deepti steadied the innings with her composed half-century, ensuring India had enough on the board.
Weeks after being confined to domestic cricket, Shafali’s 87 off 84 balls — followed by two vital wickets — symbolised India’s night of redemption. Her re-entry proved inspired, and together with Mandhana, she gave India the perfect launchpad for a historic victory.
Earlier, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the Women’s World Cup final. It is a crucial toss win for the Proteas, as any team would prefer to bowl first under overcast skies and with the looming threat of rain.
The conditions are expected to favour the bowlers early on, making this decision tactically sound.
“We are going to bowl first. Bit of rain around and there might be dew later on, hoping for a bit of slipperiness early on with all the rain around. We are unchanged from the semis. Big game for us and we are really excited for the opportunity to be here and play in front of a big crowd. We are very confident,” said South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said she too would have preferred to bowl first. “We were looking to bowl looking at the overhead conditions. We will try to bat well and put up a decent score. I don’t think there will be much on the pitch after 5-6 overs. We are going with the same team. We had two days to recover after the semis and everyone is looking forward to this game,” she said.
Mel Jones and Dinesh Karthik, presenting the pitch report, said the surface was similar to that used in the semi-final. “31 degrees right now. Dimensions, 57 and 56 metres on the sides and 66 down the ground. We are playing smack bang in the middle. Very similar to the semi-final pitch. It’s the same pitch that was used for the India–New Zealand game. The degree of spin is less compared to the other ground,” they said.
India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (w), Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur.
South Africa Women (Playing XI): Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp, Sinalo Jafta (w), Annerie Dercksen, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba.
-PTI
