Navi Mumbai, Nov 3 (IANS) South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt’s century went in vain but she was proud of her side to finish as runners-up against India in the Women’s World Cup final at DY Patil Stadium on Sunday night.

India defeated South Africa by 52 runs to lift their maiden Women’s World Cup title. Chasing 299, Wolvaardt (101) led from the front with a magnificent century but lacked support as wickets fell regularly at the other end. Deepti Sharma was the standout performer with the ball, finishing with superb figures of 5/39 while Shafali Verma and Sree Charani chipped in with key wickets to seal a historic win for India.

“It’s unfortunate to be on the losing side today, but I’m sure we’ll definitely grow from this as a group. I think we did so well to put those couple of bad games behind us. We were either really good or really bad, but thankfully there was a lot more really good throughout this tournament. There were so many different players stepping up. It’s been an amazing tournament for a lot of them, and I’m just really proud of the resilience we showed to make it all the way to the final,” Proteas captain said in the post-match presentation.

“I probably didn’t have my best year leading into the World Cup, and I didn’t start this tournament too well either. Maybe I was overthinking things early on. So I just tried to separate the two – the captaincy and the batting – and that freed me up towards the back end to play my natural game and then focus on leadership separately. We were hoping for a little bit more early on, but I still think it was the right call. There was something in the wicket. We stayed in the chase for a long time – just lost a few too many wickets at key stages, that was brilliant. I kept checking the scoreboard and they were definitely tracking for 350. That back-end bowling effort was amazing. We’ve been really good at closing out innings throughout the tournament.

“I think 300 was about par on that wicket, and we genuinely believed we could chase it. Definitely. Especially with the ball early on, but she batted excellently too. That’s just the way she plays – aggressive, fearless – and when it comes off like today, she can really hurt teams. She’s been absolutely phenomenal through so many editions of this tournament. It’s really sad that this might be her last one. The whole group wanted to win it for her. She’s been such a huge figure in South African cricket – honestly like having two players in one. We’re just so lucky she’s on our team,” she added.

In the first innings, India put up 298/7 against South Africa, posting the second-highest score in a Women’s ODI World Cup final. After a commanding 100-run opening stand, India were well placed at 223/3 but South Africa fought back to keep them below the 300 mark.

Shafali Verma (87) led the way with a fine knock while Deepti Sharma (58) steadied the innings towards the end. Richa Ghosh (34) added a lively cameo that gave India late momentum.

For South Africa, Ayabonga Khaka (3/58) was the standout performer with the ball while Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon picked up a wicket each.

–IANS

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