India wins 2025 Women's Cricket World Cup, defeating South Africa by 52 runs

2025, November 4

India

India women won the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup after defeating South Africa women by 52 runs in the final held at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. The tournament was hosted in India, and this victory marked India's first Women's World Cup title.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first. India scored 298 for 7 in 50 overs, led by Shafali Verma's 87 and Deepti Sharma's 58. Opener Smriti Mandhana supported with a partnership of 100 runs with Verma for the first wicket. For South Africa, Ayabonga Khaka took three wickets, while Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk, and Chloe Tryon took one each. India's total was the second-highest in a Women's World Cup final.

Chasing 299, South Africa made a steady start, reaching 52 for one in the powerplay. Laura Wolvaardt top-scored with a well paced century (101 off 98 balls), while Annerie Dercksen and Sune Luus contributed 35 and 25 runs respectively. India's bowlers maintained pressure in the middle overs. Deepti Sharma claimed five wickets, and Shafali Verma took two, as South Africa were bowled out for 246 runs.

Shafali Verma was named Player of the Match for her all-round performance, and Deepti Sharma received the Player of the Series award.

After the match Shafali Verma said, "I said at the start, that God has sent me here to do something nice, and that reflected today. Very happy that we won and I cannot express it in words. It was difficult but I had confidence in myself - that if I can stay calm, I could achieve everything. My parents, my friends, my brother, everyone supported me and helped me understand how to play." South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt congratulated India, saying, "I couldn't be prouder of this team. Unfortunately we were outplayed today – India played brilliant cricket. We were hoping for a little more swing early on, and we were in it for a lot of the chase, but just lost too many wickets... [In the field] I was checking that scoreboard and they [India] were tracking for a 350. Our back end was amazing."