'A new era of Indian cricket begins': India finally end wait for maiden women's world title after beating South Africa

It turned out to be a ‘Super Sunday’ for Indian cricket after all as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led senior women’s team fulfilled the nation’s dream of lifting the ICC Women’s World Cup for the first time after defeating South Africa in the final in Navi Mumbai .

The Women in Blue, after all, had endured multiple heart-breaks over the years, finishing runners-up in the ODI World Cup in 2005 and 2017 as well as in the 2020 T20 World Cup in addition to a plethora of semi-final defeats.

Team India, however, finished on the right side of the result for once on Sunday as they posted a challenging 298/7 on the board after getting invited to bat by South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt before bundling the Proteas out for just 246 in reply.

Shafali and Deepti star in India’s historic victory in Navi Mumbai

Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma played a starring role in the triumph with their all-round contributions, and would later be adjudged the Player of the Final and the Player of the Tournament respectively.

Shafali, who was wasn’t even part of the squad for most of the tournament and was included as a last-minute replacement ahead of the knockouts after an injury to Pratika Rawal, top-scored for her side with a 78-ball 87 , registering her highest ODI score in the process.

Deepti later chipped in with a run-a-ball 58 while Smriti Mandhana (45) and Richa Ghosh (34 off 24) also made important contributions as the Women in Blue finished just shy of the 300-mark.

Wolvaardt’s brilliant ton goes in vain

South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt continued her fine run of form with a second century on the trot. After her brilliant 169 in the semi-final against England, Wolvaardt struck a 98-ball 101, breaking the record for the most runs in a single edition of a Women’s World Cup (571) in the process.

Her knock, however, would ultimately go in vain as the South Africans – who were also yet to win a global title in women’s cricket and had made it to the final of an ODI World Cup for the first time ever – lost wickets in regular intervals and crumbled under pressure towards the end.

All-rounder Annerie Dercksen was the only other batter to have gone past 30, chipping in with a lively 35, while Sune Luus (25) and Tazmin Brits (23) couldn’t convert their starts.

Shafali and Deepti were once again the standout performers with the ball; while Deepti was the wrecker-in-chief with a haul of 5/22, which helped her finish as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker (22), Shafali struck twice in as many overs after getting introduced into the attack, getting rid of Luus and Marizanne Kapp.

All-rounder Nadine de Klerk, who had starred in the Proteas’ thrilling three-wicket victory over the Women in Blue during their group-stage encounter in Visakhapatnam last month, was the last batter to depart after she chipped a full toss towards Harmanpreet at cover.

The Indian captain, pedalling in the opposite direction, completed a fine catch to seal one of the most historic wins in Indian cricket history.

Here’s how cricketers – both retired legends as well as current stars – reacted to the triumph: