 "India won their maiden ICC title by defeating South Africa in the Women's World Cup final. Image: AFP")
For more than fifty years, only three countries - England, Australia and New Zealand - had ever won the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. But that long wait for change ended in 2025, when India lifted their first-ever title on Sunday in Navi Mumbai.
The historic moment came at the DY Patil Stadium, where India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in the summit clash. It was a night of joy and emotion as Indian players celebrated a win that had been years in the making.
India, batting first, put up a strong total of 298 runs, with Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma leading the charge with the bat. Crucial contributions from Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Richa Ghosh also helped.
South Africa made a good start in their chase and looked comfortable at 209/5, but Deepti’s crucial breakthrough and Shafali’s two wickets in one over turned the match around. The Proteas were bowled out for 246, handing India a famous win.
Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa’s captain, scored a brilliant century, but her team couldn’t handle the pressure and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Deepti finished with a fifer, while Sree Charani also picked up key wickets.
With this victory, India joined the list of World Cup champions, a list that had never before featured them as winners. Since the first tournament in 1973, England and Australia have dominated women’s cricket, with New Zealand winning it once.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBoth England and Australia reached the semifinal of the 2025 edition, but were knocked out by India and South Africa, respectively. New Zealand, on the other hand, faced India in a do-or-die situation in the group stage, but failed to secure a win.
Champions through the years
Here’s a look at all the Women’s Cricket World Cup winners and runners-up through the years:
From near misses in 2005 and 2017 to finally being crowned world champions in 2025, India have come a long way in the past 50 years. With this triumph, the current lot of Indian players have inspired a generation of girls to take up the sport.
After their victory on Sunday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a whopping cash prize of Rs 51 crore, higher than what ICC awarded the winning team.