India defeated South Africa by 52 runs to win the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

This is the first world cup win and International Cricket Council title for the senior Indian women’s team.

Following a delayed start because of rain, South African captain Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and opted to bowl first.

India made a solid start with Shafali Verma scoring 87 runs off 78 balls and Smriti Mandhana 45 off 58 balls.

Jemimah Rodrigues scored 24 and captain Harmanpreet Kaur 20. Deepti Sharma’s half-century and Richa Ghosh’s 24-ball 34 helped India set South Africa a target of 299.

The South African team also made a commanding start.

But India began chipping away wickets even as Wolvaardt managed to hold fort and score a century. A late cameo by Nadine de Klerk proved insufficient as India bowled out South Africa for 246.

India had finished as runners-up in 2005 and 2017. South Africa had reached the semi-final in 2000, 2017 and 2022.

The final on Sunday was the first not to feature Australia or England, the most dominant teams in women’s cricket.

Road to the final

In the tournament that began on September 30, India had defeated Sri Lanka and Pakistan before losing to South Africa, Australia and England.

But a win against New Zealand had guaranteed a knockout round qualification. India’s last group stage match against Bangladesh was abandoned because of rain.

The team’s win against Australia in the semi-final on Thursday broke several records. India’s chase of target 339, guided by a century by Jemimah Rodrigues, was the highest in women’s One Day Internationals.

On the other hand, South Africa started the tournament with a 10-wicket loss to England. But the team recovered to register wins against New Zealand, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

They lost to Australia before defeating England by 125 runs in the semi-final.

Also read: The unpublished article and the coming of age of Indian women’s cricket

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