Desk Report:
In a few hours it will be known whether India or South Africa will lift the trophy for the first time. Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, India made a huge score in the final at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. After losing the toss and batting first, India scored 298/7 runs in the stipulated 50 overs, leaving a mountain of runs in front of South Africa. It’s worth noting that in Women’s ODI history, teams have successfully chased down a target of over 300 only three times – and one of those came recently, when India chased 339 against Australia on October 30. However, no team has ever done this in a World Cup final. The record for the highest successful chase in a title match is 167 runs scored by England against New Zealand in the 2009 final. The start was delayed by two hours due to rain – the match started at 5:30 pm Bangladesh time – but the wait was worth it. When invited to bat, India’s opening batsmen gave a strong start and scored 64 runs without losing any wicket in the powerplay.
South Africa got its first success at the score of 104, when Chloe Tryon dismissed Smriti Mandhana (45) in the 18th over. Jemimah Rodrigues then joined Shafali Verma and added 62 valuable runs. Shafali had a lucky escape early in her innings when Anneke Bosch dropped a simple catch at deep midwicket, but she made full use of that lifeline. Shafali played a brilliant inning of 87 runs (7 fours, 2 sixes) in 78 balls and finally became the victim of Ayabonga Khaka in the 28th over. His innings was the highest score of the innings and was the backbone of India’s total. After her dismissal, India lost a few wickets but still made important partnerships – notably the 52-run stand for the fourth wicket between captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma. Despite some poor fielding from South Africa towards the end of the innings, India added 30 runs in the last 4 overs and finished at a strong score of 298/7. Khaka was the best bowler, he took 3 wickets. In response, South Africa has made a cautious start. After 5 overs their score is 18/0, with captain Laura Wolvaardt on 8 and Tazmin Britts on 6. To chase this, South Africa will have to make a record breaking effort. Can they make history, or will Harmanpreet Kaur’s team finally bring the Women’s ODI World Cup to India?
