As soon as Nadine de Klerk lofted the ball in the air towards the cover region, there was a sense of anticipation. This was a player, who had single handedly bested India in Visakhapatnam a few weeks ago, with a stunning onslaught.
She had already struck three boundaries on Sunday and one more could have essentially sent India into a state of panic – something which they had unfortunately aced at over the years.
Enter, Harmanpreet Kaur. The skipper leapt up, running backwards from the circle. On any other day, de Klerk could have gotten a boundary for clearing the infield. But this time, the ball stuck in the hands of the fielder.
Before anyone could realise, the Indian captain was on a celebratory run. She spread her hands like the wings of an airplane and took off. The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai was akin to a newly built airport, inaugurated at the stroke of the midnight hour on 3 November, 2025 – one that would propel womenâ€s cricket to newer altitudes.
The architects of this win werenâ€t the usual suspects. But rather the vastly experienced but often underfire Deepti Sharma and the exuberant Shafali Verma, who had led India to the inaugural ICC Womenâ€s U19 T20 World Cup title two years ago.
Sharma and Verma had contrasting journeys at the 2025 ICC Womenâ€s ODI World Cup. The former was a constant feature for the hosts from the first match and one of the most consistent players in the team, winning the Player of the Tournament award. The latter, meanwhile, was recalled to the squad just ahead of the semi-finals as an injury replacement after being unceremoniously dropped for her diminishing returns a year ago in October 2024.
However, on Sunday, they had a thing in common – it wasnâ€t the Sharma or Verma of old battling for India. Rather, this was a much refined version of the two.
Verma, for example, was patient throughout with bat in hand as she registered a career best score of 87 in the ODI format in the all-important final. Having last scored a half-century more than three years back in 2022, the opener was guilty of throwing away her starts more often than not.
Sharma, on the other end, was often guilty of being too patient when batting. The boundary hitting ability was always a concern, so was her inability to score at a quicker rate.
In the final, Verma and Sharma clicked in tandem. As Smriti Mandhana was prized out cheaply by her standards, Verma took the onus on herself. She batted longer than she usually does and she did so sensibly. There were no ugly swipes and hoicks but rather some good running between the wickets. She even cramped up at one point and required brief medical attention but battled on before falling to Ayabonga Khaka in the 28th over.
Sharma, who has been constantly working on her hitting prowess, hit three boundaries and a six in her 58-ball 58, holding the Indian innings together in the last 20 overs. Often blamed for sucking the momentum out of the innings with her approach, she ensured no such complaints would remain as she expertly rotated the strike and found odd boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving at a good rate.
Once Verma and Sharma ensured that South Africa would need to chase a record total of 299 to win the 2025 ICC Womenâ€s ODI World Cup, they also returned to torment them with the ball.
Verma, who had rarely bowled in the format, prior to this broke an important partnership between Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus, scalping the latter in the 21st over when introduced into the attack by Kaur. She would also go on to prize out veteran Marizanne Kapp in the very next over to jolt the South Africans even further.
Sharma, meanwhile, was hard to put away and dried up the runs in her typical fashion. She ran through the fragile batting order of South Africa, finishing with figures of 5-39, including the wicket of centurion Wolvaardt (101).
Fittingly, it was Sharma, who got on to the wicket column as Kaur hung on to de Klerkâ€s catch to cap off a historic win for the women in blue.
For countless years, womenâ€s cricket was an afterthought for India. The likes of Anjum Chopra, Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and others sowed the seeds years ago and the results are finally trickling in.
As the footage of Chopra, Raj, and Goswami lifting the trophy with the team flooded the broadcast cameras and later social media, something left just right.
The Indian womenâ€s cricket teamâ€s story over the years has been one of ‘so close yet so far.†On Sunday, they turned the page.
“We wanted to break this barrier. And our next plan is to make this a habit,†said Harmanpreet before receiving the trophy.
After losing three consecutive matches in the tournament, Harmanpreet Kaur and co turned up when it mattered the most. They are the world champions – the first batch of women cricketers from India to have the bragging rights.
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