India Women vs South Africa Women: History in Navi Mumbai as Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma take India to World Cup glory

Harmanpreet Kaur's Indian side entered into the history books by winning their first-ever World Cup trophy, courtesy a 52-run win against South Africa in the final at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday (November 2). Stellar all-round performances from Deepti Sharma (58, 5-39) and Shafali Verma (87,2-36) were pivotal in India's victory that had plenty of other vital contributions as well.

 

Chasing a competitive target of 299, South Africa needed to execute the highest-ever chase in a World Cup final to attain glory and needed a big knock from skipper Laura Wolvaardt. The South African captain looked in great rhythm and produced her second century on the trot to keep the game going for the visitors.

 

Wolvaardt's 98-ball 101 was nearly flawless and she had two fifty partnerships - one with fellow opener Tazmin Brits and then with Sune Luus - as India were put under immense pressure. At 114/2 in the 21st over, Wolvaardt and Luus were setting things perfectly for South Africa's deep batting line-up before an inspired bit of captaincy turned things around for India.

 

Shafali, who had earlier produced her career-best score with the bat, came into the attack as a desperate attempt from Kaur to break the partnership. Whether it was a plan or not, it sure worked for India as Luus chipped a simple return catch back to Shafali. Soon, the part-time spinner dealt a bigger blow, that of Marizanne Kapp and suddenly the Proteas were in big trouble.

 

 

Deepti, who hadn't taken a wicket till this point, then produced a hammer blow by removing the well-set Wolvaardt. Annerie Dercksen counterpunched her way to a 37-ball 35 but India's bowlers kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals. The script didn't seem too different from the league game between the two sides when Nadine de Klerk orchestrated a stunning heist.

 

de Klerk was in the mood once again tonight as she struck a few boundaries to keep the chase alive, even if only barely. However, she was running out of partners and it meant that the task was always just beyond her, especially with the pressure of a World Cup final hanging over her head.

 

There might have been some nerves when de Klerk got a stand going with Ayabonga Khaka but the latter's run out meant it was only a matter of one wicket for India to attain glory. de Klerk knew she now had to go after everything and farm the strike. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't to be as India gained a historic win in front of the jam-packed Navi Mumbai crowd.

 

Deepti ended with five wickets to cap off her fifty earlier in the innings while Shafali's career-best innings and couple of wickets with the ball were of equal value. Deepti became the first women cricketer to get a fifty and pick four-plus wickets in a World Cup final. Fittingly, it came in a winning cause.

 

Earlier in the evening, India got to 298 thanks to Shafali and Deepti along with important knocks from Richa Ghosh and Smriti Mandhana. Arguably, they could have gotten to 320-330 with the platform they had. Mandhana and Shafali had set up a century stand but South Africa were good in the back end of the innings.

 

From 161/1, India lost their way to some extent in the last 20 overs. However, Deepti and Richa ensured that the innings didn't completely go off the hook. South Africa needed the highest chase in a World Cup final to get to glory but it wasn't to be.

 

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