Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur had become the winner of the ICC Women World Cup as her side beat South Africa in the final at the D.Y. Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, November 2. She was awarded the trophy by the ICC Chairman Jay Shah and rejoiced with her teammates in a resounding applause of the home crowd.
In her leadership, Harmanpreet led India to beat South Africa by 52 runs in order to win their first ever Women World Cup. The team batted well with a total of 298 runs that was enhanced by a remarkable stand of 104 runs by Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. This was followed by an excellent performance of 5 for 39 by Deepti Sharma that made the hosts win.
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Ladies and gentlemen, the new World Champions – INDIA! 🇮🇳🏆
They BELIEVED. The whole of India BELIEVED. 💙#CWC25 #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/GvDVjwuqC0
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) November 2, 2025This was also the first victory by any Indian captain in a Women world cup in any form. Her composed leadership, shrewd choices, and capacity to motivate the team were extremely significant to the historic victory of India on her home field.
“I had to give her at least one over” – Harmanpreet Kaur on backing Shafali Verma
When asked about the unorthodox decision to bowl Shafali Verma at the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet Kaur claimed it was her day, given how she batted for her 87 (78) runs. Harmanpreet went on to compliment the child for introducing the optimistic approach, saying:
“When Laura and Sune were batting, they were looking really good. I just saw Shafali standing there, and the way she was batting, I knew it was our day. I thought I have to go with my gut feeling. If my heart was saying, I had to give her at least one over. And that was the turning point for us.”
“When she came to the team, we spoke to her that we might need 2-3 overs, and she said if you give me bowling, I will bowl ten overs. Credit goes to her, she was so positive and she was there for the team,” Kaur added.
Shafali was named Player of the Match after scoring 87 runs and finishing with 7-0-36-2 total. South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt scored a brave 101 but received insufficient support from the other batters.
