India win first Women's World Cup after 52-run win over South Africa

Navi Mumbai: The Indian women’s cricket team kept its date with history by winning its first-ever World Cup with a 52-run victory over South to script a golden chapter in the country’s pantheon of sporting achievements here on Sunday.

Shafali Verma, the 21-year-old, who till last week wasn’t even in the reserves, created memories of a lifetime by scoring 87 in India’s 298 for 7 and then grabbed a couple of crucial wickets to restrict the Proteas Women to 246 in in front of a packed DY Patil Stadium.

The seasoned Deepti Sharma (5/39) and young Shree Charani (1/48) also did their bit under extreme pressure to usher in the most memorable day for women’s cricket in the country.

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If June 25, 1983 was a watershed moment for Indian men’s cricket, when Kapil’s Devils beat the mighty West Indies at the Lord’s, November 2, 2025 will be a seminal moment for women’s cricket movement.

Rohit Sharma, who carries the scars of November 19, 2023, was watching the final from the stands with a prayer on his lips that Harmanpreet Kaur doesn’t meet his fate.

For Harmanpreet, the lady who has done way more for Indian women’s cricket than anyone can envisage, knows how much it hurts to lose a final as it happened eight summers back and her girls didn’t let her down.

As she latched on to Nadine de Klerk’s offering while back pedaling at extra cover, Ian Bishop fittingly called the moment “inspiring generations”. It couldn’t have been more poetic with AR Rahman’s rendition of ‘Vande Mataram’ reverberating across the stands.

At the other end was the regal Laura Wolvaardt, who gave everything by scoring 101 off 98 balls.

For head coach Amol Muzumdar, the ‘Nearly Man’ of Indian cricket, who couldn’t wear the whites that he richly deserved, the global triumph with the women’s national team would certainly heal those wounds that he has carried for years.

This isn’t just another World Cup triumph but something whose social impact will only be understood may be two decades from now.

Eleven special women, led by their firebrand skipper, from now on are not just role models but a beacon of hope for every girl from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, who aspire to pick up the willow and the white cherry, knowing that the sky is the limit.

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