India’s Women Win Cricket World Cup for the First Time

Staff Reporter | PNN

India’s women’s cricket team created history by winning the Cricket World Cup for the first time. On Sunday at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai, India defeated South Africa by 52 runs to become champions.

India reached the final for the third time. Harmanpreet Kaur’s team dominated from the start, despite South African captain Laura Wolvaardt’s efforts to resist.

India posted a total of 298-7. Wolvaardt scored 101 off 98 balls but was dismissed by Deepti Sharma. Other South African batters could not build big scores, and the team was all out for 246 in the 46th over.

Wolvaardt’s innings added to her previous semifinal century, making her the second woman after Australia’s Alyssa Healy to score back-to-back centuries in World Cup matches.

This victory was long-awaited for India. The team had previously reached finals in 2005 and 2017 but lost. The final was also the first women’s World Cup final without Australia or England participating.

India batted first after winning the toss. Despite a delayed start due to rain, Indian batters scored strongly. Opener Smriti Mandhana remained unbeaten at 45, finishing the tournament as India’s highest run-scorer with 434 runs. Opener Shafali Verma scored 87 off 78 balls. Deepti Sharma added 58 runs in the middle order, and Richa Ghosh scored 34 off 24 balls toward the end.

South Africa started well in the chase but lost momentum after the fall of Tazmin Brits and successive wickets of Anne Bosch, Suné Luus, and Marizanne Kapp, dimming their chances of victory.

Ultimately, India’s women ensured a historic first major ICC tournament win for the country’s women’s team, putting them a step ahead of the men.