India Vs South Africa Women’s World Cup Final Getty (1)Image Credit source: Getty Images
IND-W vs SA-W Final: The hours of waiting are almost over now. The day for which the Indian women’s cricket team was waiting for the last 8 years has arrived. The trophy which has been awaited for 52 years is now in sight. After 14 and a half years, once again the 2nd date is close to being recorded forever in the history of Indian cricket. What had slipped out of our hands eight years ago, has got another chance to catch it. The time has come to get India’s name written on the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 trophy. On Sunday, November 2, when 11 players will take the field under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, the prayers and hearts of not only 150 crore Indians but also the Indians living outside the country will be with them.
Patil Stadium will again witness history
Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium has witnessed everything from the IPL final to the first Women’s Premier League (WPL) final. Especially the final of WPL was very special, because it gave a new direction to Indian women’s cricket. It was on this ground that Harmanpreet Kaur lifted the first WPL trophy in March 2023. Now once again this DY Patil Stadium is going to witness another historic day in Indian women’s cricket and once again Harmanpreet Kaur will come out in the blue jersey with the intention of lifting the trophy.
The most important final of women’s cricket in the last 25 years is going to be played at Patil Stadium on Sunday, in which Team India will face South Africa. Both the teams will take to the field to give their all to lift the World Cup trophy for the first time. While Team India would like to convert the disappointment of defeat in the 2005 and 2017 finals into happiness in the third final, South Africa, playing the final for the first time, will remove the disappointment of the last 2-3 years and enter with the intention of winning the first World Cup for their country in ODI or T20. South Africa has not received any title till date in senior cricket, whether it is women’s or men’s cricket.
Team India faces the challenge of changing history
Overall, November 2 can witness a revolutionary change for women’s cricket in both the countries. But this is not going to be so easy for any team. The journey of both the teams in this World Cup was full of ups and downs, where they lost to Australia and England in the league stage. South Africa had lost against these two on paltry scores of just 69 and 98 runs, while Team India had also failed to register a win against these two. Coincidentally, both of them defeated England and Australia in their respective semi-finals.
But while South Africa had lost only 2 matches, Team India had lost 3 and this third defeat proved to be a big difference. That’s because this defeat of Team India came against South Africa only. Team India had dropped 5 wickets of South Africa for 80 runs in that match and despite this, it could not defend the score of 251 runs. But Team India’s performance in the World Cup against South Africa has been similar in the last few years. In the last 20 years, the Indian team had not defeated South Africa in the World Cup. The last time it won was in 2005 and then India played the final.
Keep an eye on these players
In such a situation, history is against India, but the manner in which Team India made it to the semi-finals and then chased the world record of 339 runs against defending champion Australia in the semi-finals, must have filled Harmanpreet Kaur and her teammates with confidence and enthusiasm. The most important thing is that Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodriguez were also seen returning to form in this match. This means that along with the already in-form Smriti Mandhana (389 runs), now two more batsmen can prove to be explosive. Whereas Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh and Shri Charani can become a problem for South Africa in bowling.
Talking about South Africa, there would hardly be a bigger threat to Team India than its captain Laura Woolworth. If Woolworth’s bat, which has scored the highest number of 470 runs in the tournament so far, goes like it did in the semi-finals, then it will bring trouble for India. Apart from them, we will also have to stay away from the team’s star all-rounder Marijan Kapp, who has already shown wonders with her bat and bowling. A performance like the quick innings of 42 runs and 5 wickets against England in the semi-finals is rarely seen in major matches of the World Cup.
This 2nd date will prove to be historic!
Team India has a chance to make 2nd date special in history again. 14 and a half years ago, it was the 2nd of April in 2011, when Team India won the World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, just a short distance from Navi Mumbai. Then, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, Team India ended the long wait of 28 years and filled the entire country with happiness. Now this is the opportunity for Harmanpreet and her team and if they do this then not only Navi Mumbai but the entire country will celebrate on the streets throughout the night.