India-W dispel ghosts of past to be crowned as new World Champions

All barriers broke loose at the DY Patil Stadium last night as the Indian women's cricket team was crowned as the World Champions. The champions of the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, India defeated South Africa in a thriller to eventually lift the trophy for the first time, ever since the inception of the tournament, rattling the dominance of Australia and England.

Winning the toss in the grand finale, South Africa opted to bowl first. India hunkered down to business the hard way from the start as Shafali Verma brought the fire while Smriti Mandhana anchored with a calm head. The duo of Mandhana (45) and Verma (87) added 104 runs for the opening stand, before Chloe Tryon could finally get the better of the former.

An incoming Jemimah Rodrigues (24) looked in firm control as well, as she stitched together a crucial partnership of 62 runs alongside Verma. However, India suffered a scare midway as they lost two of their set batters in no time at all in the form of Verma and Jemi.

But that did very little to deter their soaring spirits as Harmanpreet Kaur (20) and Deepti Sharma (58) kept the Indian innings in motion. The two added 52 runs for the fourth wicket before Kaur fell. Amanjot Kaur got a promotion in the batting order but couldn’t add much as she was dismissed for 12.

Richa Ghosh walked out next and conjured a storm, hammering away at the Proteas bowlers. Sharma and Ghosh were clinical in their approach and the two complemented each other brilliantly. Ghosh was the aggressor-in-chief while Sharma played the perfect calm at the other end. Ghosh added 34 runs off just 24 balls while Sharma eventually fell on the last ball of the innings, trying to add an extra run to the overall tally.

India totted up 298/7 at the end of their 50 overs, leaving quite a complicated task for the Rainbow Nation to complete. Ayabonga Khaka was the pick of the bowling lot for South Africa with figures of 3/58.

South Africa did get a fine start as the two openers, Laura Wolvaardt (101) and Tazmin Brits (23) looked in great shape. The two stitched together a 51-runs stand for the opening pair before a direct hit from Amanjot Kaur left Brits short of the crease.

India added another scalp to their tally in no time as Sree Charani removed Anneke Bosch, who had a final to forget, for a duck. Sune Luus’ arrival in the center steadied the South African ship as she joined forces with her captain, Wolvaardt to keep South Africa sailing. The two chimed in with a crucial 52-run partnership for the third wicket before India could apply the brakes. India’s star with the bat in her hand, Shafali Verma joined in on the act and delivered the crucial scalp of Luus as India started dreaming again.

Much to India’s joys, Verma struck a second in the form of Marizanne Kapp (4) and South Africa were staring down the barrel in no time at all. From 114/2 they were reduced to 148/5. Sinalo Jafta did start racking up a few runs to allow a platform for Wolvaardt to go all guns blazing but India didn’t really let the Proteas off the hook.

Deepti Sharma struck her first blow of the evening in the form of Sinalo Jafta, kickstarting a series of events that would see her become a superstar unparalleled. Annerie Dercksen (35) played another solid knock that South Africa barely kept alive. Just when it felt that Laura Wolvaardt was planning to change gears with the numbers starting to look difficult, Sharma broke the partnership.

She got rid of Dercksen, opening up the floodgates for India to storm in. Moments later, Sharma dealt the mightiest blow of all as she got the massive scalp of Laura Wolvaardt with Amanjot taking a good catch under pressure. With Wolvaardt back to the pavilion, India could sniff out glory.

Despite South Africa holding on dearly to the hopes of another Nadine de Klerk miracle, India were not having it anymore. Sharma struck again, this time, picking the wicket of Tryon (9) as India were hot on the heels of the Rainbow Nation. Ayabonga Khaka tried to hang in the center while de Klerk (18) navigated the treacherous cross-currents.

A 25-run stand for the ninth wicket kept things very much on the fence while de Klerk was gearing up for something big. Much to her shock, an attempt to rotate strike cost her dearly as a fine throw from Deepti left Khaka wobbling short of her crease and India were just a wicket away from history.

Sharma came back for her final over, hoping to deliver one final zinger that would win India the World Cup. And she did that in style. A slightly shorter delivery saw de Klerk going after it and Harmanpreet Kaur pouched an absolute stunner to send the entire nation and the fans across the globe in a frenzied leap of unparalleled exhilaration. Sharma was the pick of the lot with a brilliant fifer that derailed South Africa.

India were crowned as the winners of the world for the first time in the history of the tournament. They secured a phenomenal win by 52 runs to carve history in Navi Mumbai. Shafali Verma won the Player of the Match award for her iconic all-round performance featuring 87 runs and two wickets while Deepti Sharma bagged the Player of the Series award for 215 runs and 22 wickets.