India’s Wonder Women Seal Glory, Clinch First-Ever World Cup After Beating South Africa
The Indian women's cricket team ended a 52-year wait to win the Women's ODI World Cup 2025. Led by captain Harmanpreet Kaur, India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in the final, riding on all-round performances from Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma, creating history.
India won its first Women's ODI World Cup title
The Indian women's cricket team performed strongly in the final match against South Africa . South Africa won the toss and asked India to bat first. India scored 298 for 7 in 50 overs, setting the Proteas a target of 299 runs to win. In response, South Africa were bowled out for 246 in 45.3 overs.
Must Read - New Zealand legend Kane Williamson Announces T20I Retirement, to continute playing ODI and Test Cricket
The South African women's cricket team put up a valiant fight against India in the final, but they failed to taste victory and had to settle for runner-up status. Furthermore, after 25 years in the history of the Women's ODI World Cup, the world gained a new champion in India.
Harmanpreet Kaur made India champion
Under Harmanpreet Kaur's captaincy, the Indian women's team won the ODI World Cup for the first time. She became the third player in Indian ODI cricket history to win the overall ODI World Cup title. Previously, India had won the ODI World Cup under the captaincy of Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni, and now Harmanpreet Kaur has joined the elite list of these two legends.
This marked the third time the Indian team had reached the final of the ODI World Cup. In 2005 and 2017, their dreams of becoming champions were shattered. However, in 2025, the Indian women's team performed a remarkable feat at home, seizing this opportunity and emerging victorious.
All-round performance by Shefali and Deepti
Shefali Verma and Deepti Sharma gave a brilliant all-round performance for India in the final. Shefali played a strong inning of 87 runs in 78 balls for India while Deepti took the team to a strong position by scoring 58 runs in 58 balls. Smriti Mandhana scored 45 runs while Jemima Rodrigues scored 24 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur played an inning of 20 runs while Richa Ghosh contributed 34 runs. In the second innings for India, Deepti Sharma took the maximum 5 wickets while Shefali Verma took 2 and Shri Charani took one wicket.
Partnerships are the cornerstone of supremacy in ODI cricket. In a 52-run stand for the third wicket, Sune Luus attempted to offer solidity, but Shafali Verma's golden arm destroyed the developing relationship. In a devastating double blow, she then struck again right away, taking out the seasoned Kapp as well, sending the Proteas reeling from 114/2 to 123/4. After that, there were a series of calm overs that put a lot of pressure on South Africa, who were only able to add 37 runs over the 21–30 overs phase. Wolvaardt then scored back-to-back hundreds, and the entire chase now rested on his shoulders.
Do Read - Unstoppable India Women Storm to the Women's ODI World Cup Final as Jemimah Rodrigues' Ton Sinks Mighty Australia in Record Chase
