Laura Wolvaardt’s Glittering Century Not Enough as India Claim Maiden World Cup Win
India have claimed their maiden ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup title after a strong batting display was backed up by Deepti Sharma’s brilliant five-for, overshadowing Laura Wolvaardt’s glittering century for the brave Proteas Women silver medalists, at the DY Patil ground in Navi Mumbai, India, on Sunday, 2 November 2025.
Set 299 to win, Laura Wolvaardt was once again the star of the show for South Africa, racking up a second successive century to lead the tournament’s batting standings by 137 runs, but all her skill and runs were not enough to win the trophy for the Proteas Women, as regular wickets on the other side left the visitors 52 runs shy of laying hands on the nation’s first ODI silverware.
Invited to bat when Laura Wolvaardt called right and decided to field first, Indian openers Smriti Mandhana (45) and Shafali Verma (87) reeled off the host nation’s sixth opening partnership century of the tournament at a run-a-ball before the fall of Mandhana, bringing up their half-century in the seventh over and forcing the introduction of spin within the first powerplay.
The openers’ opening stand of 106 off 103 balls has early predictions of the tournament hosts posting a total in excess of 320 runs, but Chloe Tryon (46 for 1 off 7 overs) reigned in those ambitions when she opened South Africa’s wickets column in the 19th over, taking Mandhana edged to the keeper with the score on 104.
Verma continued plundering runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (24) and the two increased the pressure on South Africa with a 62-run partnership at quick time before Verma lost her wicket to South Africa’s strike bowler of the innings, Ayabonga Khaka (58/ 3 off 9 overs), who had the tiring opener caught by Luus mid-off.
Khaka’s breakthrough heralded a turning point in the match, and shortly thereafter India’s semi-final heroine Jemimah Rodrigues (24) became the South African opening bowler’s second wicket in her second spell, leaving India on 171/3 after 29.4 overs.
It would be just short of another 10 overs before the Proteas Women claimed their fourth wicket during which time skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (20) and Deepti Sharma (58) put on 52 runs in 56 balls, but the writing was on the wall when Nonkululeko Mlaba (47/1) clean-bowled the Indian captain to open her account, with India four down for 223 runs on the board.
Amanjot Kaur was the next to follow after the addition of 22 runs with Sharma, caught and bowled by Nadine de Klerk (52/1). Richa Ghosh (34) played a familiarly destructive innings, compiling runs rapidly, but fell early for Khaka’s third wicket, India posting a middling 298 in their innings.
South Africa started their chase well enough, compiling a steady opening partnership before Tazmin Brits was prematurely run out by Amanjot Kaur after nine overs, with the total on 51/1.
Anneke Bosch’s woeful tournament continued, compounded her misery and escalated South Africa’s predicament by posting a six-delivery duck, caught-and-bowled by Sree Charani (1/48) with the Proteas Women’s chase stunned at 62/2.
Suné Luus was next up at the crease, adding a productive 52-run fourth-wicket partnership with captain Wolvaardt, continuing the runs off her bat at the other end, before the batting all-rounder was tamely out, caught-and-bowled to Verma (2/36).
Bowling all-rounder Marizanne Kapp joined Wolvaardt with the score on 114/3, but this time her ball-hitting skills didn’t make an impact on the game, departing after the addition of just four runs to her name for Verma’s second wicket, leaving South Africa dangerously placed on 148 for the loss of five wickets.
Throughout the regular fall of South African wickets, skipper Wolvaardt continued to patiently add runs to the scoreboard, intermittently stroking boundaries and sprinting through for singles, keeping her side in the game, despite the daunting heat and home-crowd cheers.
Sinalo Jafta (16) walked in at number six, but she struggled against the Indian, bravely adding 16 of the 25-run partnership with Wolvaardt, before falling to Sharma (5/39) for her first wicket.
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Jafta’s wicket brought Annerie Dercksen (35) to the crease, and she and her captain quickly settled into the most productive partnership of the South African innings, with the junior partner trusting her eye to hit big sixes, and fast enough to steal singles when required.
It looked momentarily as though the South African challenge could threaten the favourites’ in their winning quest, but that faint hope was dealt with when Sharma worked Dercksen for her second wicket, and going even better with the wicket of Wolvaardt for her third, just two deliveries later, the stands roaring in delight.
A rearguard effort by Nadine de Klerk (18), valiantly attempting to close on the target with the lower order’s Khaka and Mlaba, but it was a cause that had to be won by the batters higher up the order, and she was the final wicket lost going for another maximum in the nation’s interests, fittingly to Sharma for her brilliant championship-winning five-for innings.
South Africa and Knockout Fixtures and Results at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025
Thu, 25 Sept- 1st Warm-Up: South Africa vs Bangladesh – Washed out without a ball bowled
Sun, 28 Sept- 2nd Warm-Up: South Africa beat Pakistan by 4 wickets
Fri, 3 Oct: England beat South Africa by 10 wickets (Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati)
Mon, 6 Oct: South Africa beat New Zealand by 6 wickets (Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore)
Thu, 9 Oct: South Africa beat India by 3 wickets (ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam)
Mon, 13 Oct: South Africa beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets (ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam)
Fri, 17 Oct: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets (DLS) (R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo)
Tue, 21 Oct: South Africa beat Pakistan by 150 runs (DLS) (R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo)
Sat, 25 Oct: Australia beat South Africa by 7 wickets (Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore)
Wed, 29 Oct: South Africa beat England by 125 runs (Guwahati/Colombo)
Thu, 30 Oct: India beat Australia by 5 wickets (Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai)
Sun, 2 Nov: India beat South Africa by 51 runs (Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai)
Proteas Women Playing XI
Laura Wolvaardt (c)
Tazmin Brits
Anneke Bosch
Suné Luus
Marizanne Kapp
Sinalo Jafta (wk)
Chloé Tryon
Annerie Dercksen
Nadine de Klerk
Ayabonga Khaka
Nonkululeko Mlaba
India Playing XI
Shafali Verma
Smriti Mandhana
Jemimah Rodrigues
Harmanpreet Kaur (c)
Deepti Sharma
Richa Ghosh (wk)
Amanjot Kaur
Radha Yadav
Kranti Gaud
Sree Charani
Renuka Singh Thakur
Main Photo Caption: India have claimed their maiden ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup title after a strong batting display was backed up by Deepti Sharma’s brilliant five-for, overshadowing Laura Wolvaardt’s glittering century for the brave Proteas Women silver medalists, at the DY Patil ground in Navi Mumbai, India, on Sunday, 2 November 2025. All Photos: Getty Images via ICC
Photo 2 Caption: After her scintillating 169 against England to win the semi-final, SA skipper Laura Wolvaardt smashed another century against India in the final.
Photo 3 Caption: Proteas Women strike bowler Ayabonga Khaka returned the best SA figures for the final, claiming 3 wickets for 58 runs in her nine overs.
Crédito: Link de origem