India Women's Cricket Makes History: How World Cup Win Inspires New Generation

After heartbreaks in the 2005 and 2017 finals, the luck, skill set, balance, and depth favoured Team India; the clinical Women in Blue overcame South Africa, the first-time finalists, by 52 runs to secure their first-ever World Cup title across both T20I and ODI formats.

All-round performances from Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma were the crowning jewels for the team in the title clash.

Speaking on the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side's performance in the title clash, Madan Lal told ANI, "I want to congratulate the Indian women's cricket team for creating history. After today, you will see the growth that will be seen in women's cricket. More and more girls will come forward to play. BCCI will organise more games now."

The former World Cup-winning player further praised captain Harmanpreet Kaur for her leadership during India's historic ICC Women's World Cup triumph, saying her contribution was instrumental in the team's success. He, however, advised her to keep her emotions in check on the field.

"Harmanpreet Kaur has been amazing as a captain but I would suggest that she keep her emotions in check. Her concentration when she plays innings is amazing. She has had a major role to play in the World Cup," the 74-year-old said.

Coming to the match, South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first.

A century partnership between Smriti Mandhana (45 in 58 balls, with eight fours) and Shafali Verma kick-started things for India, followed by another 62-run stand between Shafali (87 in 78 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Jemimah Rodrigues (24 in 37 balls, with a four). India was at a fine platform of 166/2.

A 52-run stand between skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (20 in 29 balls, with two fours) and Deepti Sharma took India beyond the 200-run mark. A final flourish by Deepti (58 in 58 balls, with three fours and a six) and Richa Ghosh (34 in 24 balls, with three fours and two sixes) helped India reach 298/7 in their 50 overs.

Ayabonga Khaka (3/58) was the leading wicket-taker for SA.

During the run-chase, a fifty-run stand started things for SA, with Tazmin Brits (23 in 35 balls, with two fours and a six) being the first victim. Eventually, despite skipper Laura Wolvaardt's dominance, the golden arms of Shafali Verma (2/36) and Shree Charani reduced SA to 148/5.

Wolvaardt had a 61-run stand for the sixth wicket with Annerie Dercksen (37 in 35 balls, with a four and two sixes), which slowly started to rebuild pressure on India. Wolvaardt (101 in 98 balls, with 11 fours and a six) continued her red-hot form, bringing up her century after having registered 169 against England in the semifinal just a few days back.

However, a game-changing spell from Deepti removed both set batters and had the Proteas struggling at 221/8. She became the first Indian woman with a WC final four-fer. Deepti (5/39) eventually managed to convert it into a fiver, as India made history to win their maiden WC title by bundling out SA for 246 runs.

- ANI