Navi Mumbai: When Harmanpreet Kaur latched onto the catch to dismiss Nadine De Klerk off Deepti Sharma's bowling, India created history by clinching their first ever Women's ODI World Cup title beating South Africa by 52 runs in an enticing final at the DY Patil Stadium, here on Sunday.
In pursuit of a tricky 299, South Africa were barely in the game except for the brilliance of skipper Laura Wolvaardt, who slammed a fine hundred although in vain, as they were bowled out for 246 in 45.3 overs. Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma's all-round efforts were the highlights for India as the former scalped 5/39 and scored 58 while the latter picked two wickets and struck a superb 87 while India batted and scored 298/7 in 50 overs.
Chasing a challenging 299 for victory, South Africa crumbled under the pressure of a World Cup final against an Indian team determined more than ever to undo and erase the pain and agony of the previous two World Cup final defeats in 2017 and 2020 and present the Cup to the nation.
Laura Wolvaardt was the lone woman who stood up for South Africa with a brilliant 101 that went in vain eventually but India will applaud themselves for a terrific all-round performance that saw them bowl out South Africa for 246 all out in 45.3 overs. Bowlers led by Deepti Sharma (5/39), Shafali Verma (2/36) and Shree Charani (1/48) complemented the efforts of the batters with Shafali starring with the willow as well scoring a cracking 87 and Deepti’s 58 the icing on the cake in India’s total of 298/7 in 50 overs.
Amanjot Kaur’s run out of Tazmin Brits effected by a direct hit had started the procession of South African wickets during the chase in the Women’s World Cup final at the DY Patil Stadium, here on Sunday. Shafali Verma scalped two crucial wickets of Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp while Shree Charani saw the back of Anneke Bosch as India pegged SA back in the game to give themselves the best shot at winning the elusive World Cup. Deepti Sharma took the wicket of Sinalo Jafta while Amanjot Kaur’s direct hit of Tazmin Brits had helped India get their first wicket.
Earlier, terrific half-centuries from Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma and some late pyrotechnics from Richa Ghosh powered India to 298/7 in 50 overs. Shafali’s 87, Deepti’s 58 and Richa’s 34 were the major highlights of the Indian innings where they failed to get 320-330 total owing to some disciplined bowling from the South African bowlers. For SA, Ayabonga Khaka was among the pick of the wickets as she scalped 3/58 in nine overs while Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine De Klerk and Chloe Tryon bagged a wicket apiece.
Rain delay Earlier, the match began after a two-hour delay at 5 pm owing to persistent rain that looked threatening at one point. When India began proceedings, Shafali Verma opened the account when she cracked a boundary through mid-wicket after Smriti Mandhana batted out six dot balls in the first over of the day. The right-handed seemed a bit more aggressive in the first three overs as she attacked Ayabonga Khaka and Marizanne Kapp in the fourth and fifth overs with four boundaries.
Mandhana was taking her time to settle down and eventually struck two fours in the sixth over off Khaka as she fed off Shafali’s fluency with the bat. The pressure was telling on the South Africans as Khaka bowled five wides in the second last ball of the sixth over as Mandhana and Shafali grew in confidence.
