"Bright future for women's cricket": Jay Shah hails South Africa and Laura Wolvaardt's leadership

New Delhi [India], November 3 (ANI): International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah praised South Africa's women's cricket team for their spirited performance in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025, lauding captain Laura Wolvaardt's leadership and saying that the tournament's record crowds and high-quality cricket reflected the bright future of the women's game.

Wolvaardt once again stood tall for her side, scoring a brilliant 101 off 98 balls in the Women's World Cup final against India in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. The 26-year-old batter enjoyed a record-breaking campaign, finishing as the highest run-getter in a single World Cup edition. Wolvaardt amassed 571 runs in 9 innings at an outstanding average of 71.37, which included two centuries and three fifties.

Appreciating the performance of the Proteas skipper, Jay Shah wrote on X, "What a tournament for @ProteasWomenCSA who finished runners-up after being superbly led by the run-machine Laura Wolvaardt! The crowds, the record audiences and the standard of play at @cricketworldcup showed how bright the future of the women's game is!"

What a tournament for @ProteasWomenCSA who finished runners-up after being superbly led by the run-machine Laura Wolvaardt!

The crowds, the record audiences and the standard of play at @cricketworldcup showed how bright the future of the women’s game is!

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) November 3, 2025

Coming to the match, India's years' dream of capturing the ICC Women's World Cup finally came to an end after two heartbreaks in 2005 and 2017 finals, as they defeated South Africa by 52 runs in a clinical performance at the finals, which saw Shafali Sharma (87 and 2/36) and Deepti Sharma (58 and 5/39) delivering all-round performances that would stay imprinted in the minds' of millions and serve as a tale of inspiration for the cricketers of the future.

South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first.

A century partnership between Smriti Mandhana (45 in 58 balls, with eight fours) and Shafali Verma kick-started things for India, followed by another 62-run stand between Shafali (87 in 78 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Jemimah Rodrigues (24 in 37 balls, with a four). India was at a fine platform of 166/2.

A 52-run stand between skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (20 in 29 balls, with two fours) and Deepti Sharma took India beyond the 200-run mark. A final flourish by Deepti (58 in 58 balls, with three fours and a six) and Richa Ghosh (34 in 24 balls, with three fours and two sixes) helped India reach 298/7 in their 50 overs.

Ayabonga Khaka (3/58) was the leading wicket-taker for SA.

During the run-chase, a fifty-run stand started things for SA, with Tazmin Brits (23 in 35 balls, with two fours and a six) being the first victim. Eventually, despite skipper Laura Wolvaardt's dominance, the golden arms of Shafali Verma (2/36) and Shree Charani reduced SA to 148/5.

Wolvaardt had a 61-run stand for the sixth wicket with Annerie Dercksen (37 in 35 balls, with a four and two sixes), which slowly started to rebuild pressure on India. Wolvaardt (101 in 98 balls, with 11 fours and a six) continued her red-hot form, bringing up her century after having registered 169 against England in the semifinal just a few days back.

However, a game-changing spell from Deepti removed both set batters and had the Proteas struggling at 221/8. She became the first Indian woman with a WC final four-fer.

Deepti (5/39) eventually managed to convert it into a fiver, as India made history to win their maiden WC title by bundling out SA for 246 runs. (ANI)

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