Historic Victory: How India's Women Finally Lifted Their Maiden World Cup Trophy

India's years' dream of capturing the ICC Women's World Cup finally came to an end after two heartbreaks in 2005 and 2017 finals, as they defeated South Africa by 52 runs in a clinical performance at the finals, which saw Shafali Sharma (87 and 2/36) and Deepti Sharma (58 and 5/39) delivering all-round performances that would stay imprinted in the minds' of millions and serve as a tale of inspiration for the cricketers of the future.

After the final game of the mega event, Nita Ambani was seen posing and congratulating Harmanpreet Kaur as the Women in Blue went on to clinch the 2025 edition.

Earlier, Nita Ambani hailed the Indian women's team for their maiden ICC Women's World Cup triumph, saying that they have made the whole nation "swell with pride".

In a statement, she said, "At the stroke of midnight, our girls have won the first-ever ICC World Championship. I think you have made the whole nation swell with pride, the way you have played with courage, conviction and confidence. We are all so proud of you, and I want to say thank you, thank you, dhanyavad and Jai Hind."

On Team India lifting their maiden Women's World Cup Trophy, the brother of Cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues, Eli Rodrigues, says, "I would like to say it again, Jemimah played a vital role in the semi-final match. But this is a win not only for Jemimah, it's a win for the entire Women's Cricket Team. You can't pick out one single player and say that this player got us the victory in this game. I think if you see throughout the tournament, even the finals, we had every single player contribute to the team's victory. So, I would like to say -Well done girls, we are all very proud of you and with this victory, you all made us very proud..."

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