India will face South Africa in the Women's World Cup 2025 final on November 2.
India and South Africa will square off in the title clash at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday (November 2), with Women's World Cup set to have a new champion alongside former winners Australia, England and New Zealand.
India booked their place in the final by pulling off the biggest run chase in the history of women’s cricket during the semi-final clash against seven-time champions Australia on Thursday (October 30).
The Women in Blue were set a daunting 339-run target but thanks to Jemimah Rodrigues’ maiden World Cup century (127* off 134) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (89 off 88), the hosts chased down the target with five wickets in hand and nine deliveries to spare.
India will be making their third appearance in a Women's ODI World Cup final. They had lost to Australia by 98 runs in the 2005 summit clash and went down against England by a narrow margin of nine runs in the 2017 final.
Harmanpreet and her troops will be keen to rewrite the history this time around, and former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes stars are aligned for India to win the Women's ODI World Cup 2025.
“Everything suggests that India has the momentum. In their last three games, they have beaten two tough opponents. When you have everything aligning and telling you that you are the team expected to win, I would like to think that India have a great chance,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“India have stumbled upon this playing XI by accident at the back end of this tournament. It could have gone pear-shaped easily, but they stuck together to produce one of the greatest performances by a women’s team. If they play anywhere close to their potential, they will beat South Africa,” he added.
Notably, India were forced to make several changes to their playing XI after three consecutive defeats in the group stage against South Africa, Australia, and England. Moreover, a freak injury to Pratika Rawal further altered the lineup, prompting India to go with six bowling options and pushing Jemimah to No. 3 in the batting order. That combination seemed to work perfectly against Australia in the semi-final.
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan, who was also part of the discussion panel, said that a World Cup triumph for the Indian women’s team would be immensely inspirational.
“It’s going to be immensely inspirational if India win the World Cup. I am sure the squad knows that. It is just one more day of taking care of your emotions. The World Cup final is not only about playing the game but also about managing your emotions. I hope they inspire a new generation,” Zaheer said.