Conquerors of the world

After falling short twice, India finally got their hands on the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup trophy after logging a 52-run win over South Africa at DY Patil Stadium.

The evening belonged to Haryana’s Shafali Verma, who entered the tournament unexpectedly. She posted a 78-ball 87 to help India post 298, and took two crucial wickets to give India a major breakthrough. South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt (101 off 98 balls) remained the sole warrior for the side as the Proteas were bundled out at 246.

It was last November when Shafali was dropped from the team’s tour to Australia. She had to hide the news for almost a week from her father Sanjeev Verma, who had suffered a heart attack just two days before the announcement. Today, she anchored the Indian innings. After top-scoring for India, her 87 being the best score by an Indian women player in the final, she claimed 2/36 to achieve the best bowling figures of her ODI career.

The youngest player to represent India in all three formats, she set the pace for the Indian innings. After rain delayed the start, Shafali gave India a great platform. But a disappointing performance by the middle-order kept India from reaching 300. The side posted the first 50 runs off 37 balls, and recorded 100 off 104 balls, but at the end failed to get the best of the positive start.

While Smriti Mandhana (45) took her time to settle, Shafali was off to the mark with a boundary on the first ball. The duo recorded a fast start with 104 on the board in 18 overs. However, with their departure, the team’s run-rate also dropped.

Jemimah Rodgrigues (24) carried the hopes of repeating the 127-run performance but an amazing grab by Wolvaardt at cover foiled her plans. This brought in the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (20) to the crease. Playing her last World Cup, she did well to put on 52 runs with Deepti Sharma, but the slow run-rate was putting extra pressure on the hosts. With Deepti at the crease, the running between the wickets was affected. In an effort to play a late cut, from which the skipper had gathered two boundaries, Harmanpreet failed to connect the ball and ended up gifting her wicket.

Deepti and Amanjot Kaur (12) could also not trouble the scorers much, with Nadine de Klerk’s brilliance bringing an end to it. Later, Richa Ghosh (34) provided some fireworks, and with Deepti, who scored a run-a-ball 58, recorded a 47-run partnership.

The chase started slowly for the Proteas but they did not lose any wicket in the powerplay. But as soon the Indian spinners started to operate, South Africa started to struggle. While Amanjot Kaur found Tazmin Brits (23) short of the crease, Shree Charani trapped Anneke Bosch (0) to start the downslide for the Proteas. Shafali bowled for the first time in the tournament and achieved success in her first spell with two wickets. The rest of the job was done by Deepti (5/39).