Thanks to Shefali Verma’s explosive innings of 87 runs and Deepti Sharma’s patient half-century, the Indian women’s cricket team posted a challenging score of 298/6 against South Africa. After a two-hour delay due to a wet outfield, India got off to a flying start as Shafali and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (45) added 104 runs for the first wicket at almost seven runs an over. Opener Smriti Mandhana contributed 45 runs and wicketkeeper batsman Richa Ghosh contributed 34 runs. For South Africa, Ayabonga Khaka took three wickets while Nonkululeko Malaba, Nadine de Klerk and Chole Troyon took one wicket each.
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Shafali, who was dropped for the semi-final against Australia following Prateek Raval’s injury, continued her fine form and scored her first ODI half-century in more than three years – her fifth overall – but was out for 87 off 78 balls, which included seven fours and two sixes. South Africa made a comeback on the strength of Ayabonga Khaka (3 for 58 in nine overs) and Nonkululeko Mlaba (1 for 47 in 9 overs), who after a strong start by India, demolished the team in the middle overs and prevented the hosts from reaching the psychological mark of 300.
Khaka’s two wickets dismissed Shefali and Jemimah Rodrigues (24), while Mlaba dismissed captain Harmanpreet Kaur (20) when her partnership with Deepti Sharma was building. After this, Deepti took over the innings by scoring 58 runs in 58 balls, which was her 18th ODI half-century and third half-century in this tournament. She added crucial runs with Richa Ghosh (34 off 24 balls), but Ghosh was dismissed by Khakas in the final over.
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South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt won the toss and decided to field first. This 13th edition of the World Cup is expected to produce a new champion, with India reaching the finals for the third time and South Africa reaching the finals for the first time, both of whom have performed impressively.