Women’s ODI World Cup: Former India captain Mithali Raj hails India’s historic triumph

Former India captain Mithali Raj was stuffed with emotion and satisfaction as India lifted their maiden ICC Girls’s World Cup trophy after defeating South Africa in an exciting last on Sunday (November 2, 2025).

“I’m simply going to offer them a hug. The way in which they’ve made a comeback on this World Cup was superb,” she famous.

At one level, the staff had misplaced three video games on the trot, resulting in questions on their probabilities of even qualifying for the semifinals.

Nonetheless, below the management of Amol Muzumdar and the resilience of the gamers, India staged a outstanding turnaround. They not solely secured their spot within the knockouts however went all the way in which to win the ultimate and clinch their first-ever Girls’s World Cup title.

“I’m simply very comfortable and emotional that India has lastly received the World Cup. That’s one thing all of us had been ready for years, and eventually we bought to see that,” Mithali stated after the match.

South Africa received 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 issues for India, adopted by one other 62-run stand between Shafali (87 in 78 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Jemimah Rodrigues (24 in 37 balls, with a 4).

India was at a high quality platform of 166/2. A 52-run stand between skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (20 in 29 balls, with two fours) and Deepti Sharma took India past the 200-run mark.

A last 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 attain 298/7 of their 50 overs. Ayabonga Khaka (3/58) was the main wicket-taker for South Africa. Throughout the run-chase, a fifty-run stand began issues for SA, with Tazmin Brits (23 in 35 balls, with two fours and a six) being the primary sufferer. Finally, regardless of skipper Laura Wolvaardt’s dominance, the golden arms of Shafali Verma (2/36) and Shree Charani lowered SA to 148/5.

Wolvaardt had a 61-run stand for the sixth-wicket with Annerie Dercksen (37 in 35 balls, with a 4 and two sixes), which slowly began to rebuild strain on India. Wolvaardt (101 in 98 balls, with 11 fours and a six) continued her red-hot type, citing her century after having registered 169 in opposition to England in semifinal just some days again.

Nonetheless, a game-changing spell from Deepti eliminated each set batters and had Proteas struggling at 221/8. She grew to become the primary Indian lady with a WC last four-fer. Deepti (5/39) ultimately managed to transform it right into a fiver, as India made historical past to win their maiden WC title by bundling out South Africa for 246 runs.