India defeated South Africa in the final of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025.
India was asked to bat first and thanks to 87 by Shafali Verma, 58 by Deepti Sharma, and contributions by Smriti Mandhana (45) and Richa Ghosh (34), posted a formidable 298/7 in 50 overs. In response, Laura Wolvaardt shone alone with 101 in 98 balls, while the next best score was 35 by Annerie Dercksen, as South Africa was bowled out for 246.
Deepti Sharma shined with the ball as well, taking 5/58, while Shafali took two wickets as India won by 52 runs.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led team gave India a watershed moment in the history of women's cricket when they won the World Cup for the first time. During the victory lap at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium, they handed over the trophy to former India players Reema Malhotra, Anjum Chopra, Mithali Raj, and Jhulan Goswami to honour the legends.
Mithali Raj, the first Indian captain to lead her country to a Women's World Cup final, could only say "thank you" and "I am so happy" in response. When asked to lift the trophy with the squad, Mithali, who is known for saying few words, let her eyes do the talking.
Jhulan Goswami burst into tears as she hugged Harmanpreet tightly. It was her turn to hold the trophy. The only woman to take more than 200 ODI wickets celebrated like a kid in a candy store. She gave a bear hug to Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana as she hoisted the World Cup trophy.
Even ex-India captain Anjum Chopra, who was a star in the 90s and 2000s, celebrated with the Indian team and was surrounded by the players as she got her hands on the World Cup trophy as well. The first to receive the trophy from the Indian team was, however, Reema Malhotra, another former Indian cricketer, who gave it her all during her playing days.
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