Half-centuries from Shafali Verma (87) and Deepti Sharma (58) led a collective batting performance from India against South Africa in the Women's World Cup final at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Put into bat, India ended with a competitive score of 298 in their 50 overs. Smriti Mandhana (45) and Richa Ghosh (34) were the other major contributors for the home side.
Verma chose the biggest stage of them all to produce her career-best innings and stitched a 104-run opening stand with Mandhana to give India the perfect platform in the Cup final. Relentless rain had forced a delayed start by two hours but with no overs lost, India's openers went about their job fluently on a good batting surface.
Shafali Verma's 87, backed by key knocks from Deepti (58), Smriti (45) & Richa (34) take India to 298/7! 💥
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) November 2, 2025
Ayabonga Khaka leads South Africa's charge with 3/58! 👏#CricketTwitter #CWC25 #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/nINhDLNaUj
Verma was at her fearless best while Mandhana played the ideal foil as South Africa's bowlers were put under huge pressure. However, the Proteas fought back by breaking the partnership with the wicket of Mandhana. Meanwhile, Jemimah Rodrigues added a half-century stand with Verma to maintain the tempo before both fell in quick succession to restore some parity to the match situation.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur couldn't really get going and her dismissal followed by that of Amanjot Kaur saw India imploding in the middle overs after having gotten a big platform upfront. Deepti and Richa, though, put on a crucial partnership at the back end to give India some impetus in the death overs.
Deepti's innings was well-paced while Richa got going from the get-go to inject momentum into the innings. However, South Africa's bowlers were brilliant in the latter half of the innings, mixing up their pace and lengths cleverly. At one stage, India were 166/1 in the 28th over and a total of 320-plus seemed possible.
However, South Africa fought back with regular wickets and exceptional death bowling. The target of 299 will still need the highest-ever chase in a World Cup final from the Proteas.
Brief scores: India 298/6 in 50 overs (Shafali Verma 87, Deepti Sharma 58; Ayabonga Khaka 3-58) vs South Africa
