Navi Mumbai: South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt admitted that Shafali Verma's part-time off-spin, which saw the Indian opener pick up two wickets while conceding just 36 runs to swing the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup final at the DY Patil Stadium decisively in India's favour, was a "surprise factor" for her side.
Wolvaardt , who played a brilliant lone hand in the summit clash — scoring 101 off 98 balls as her team lost by 52 runs to India, who went on to clinch their maiden World Cup title — confessed that it was "frustrating" that Shafali, who had earlier smashed a superb 78-ball 87, was able to bag two big wickets in the final.
Coming into the final, Shafali had bowled just 14 overs and taken a single wicket in 30 ODIs. Yet, it took her only two balls to end a 52-run stand between South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus in the 21st over with a return catch. And with the first ball of her second over, she got another big wicket as Marizanne Kapp was strangled down the leg side.
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"We didn't really expect her to bowl much today. So, a bit of a surprise factor from them. She just kind of bowled with the front of the hand and really slow and was able to pick up a couple of wickets. In a World Cup final, you don't want to lose wickets to a part-time bowler. But it’s frustrating that she was able to pick up two — two big ones as well — and then we almost had to err on the side of caution to not give her any more wickets. She bowled pretty well. Frustrating, I guess, because it's not really the person you plan for. But she played well," Wolvaardt said at the post-final presser.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that she had a gut feeling it was Shafali's day when she threw the ball to the opener with South Africa ticking along in their run chase of 299 in the World Cup final.
"When Laura and Sune were batting, they were looking really good, and I just saw Shafali standing there. The way she was batting today, I knew it was her day," Harmanpreet said at the presentation ceremony. "She was doing something special today, and I just thought I have to go with my gut feeling. If my heart was saying I should give her at least one over, I was going to do it. And then I just asked her, 'Can you bowl one over?' She was so ready — she’s always wanted to bowl for the team. I think that was a turning point for us."
Shafali only came into India's squad before the semi-finals after opener Pratika Rawal suffered an injury during India’s last league-stage match that ruled her out of the tournament. "When she came to the team, we told her, 'We might need your two or three overs.' And she said, 'If you give me the ball, I’ll bowl 10 overs for the team.' That showed how confident she was. Credit goes to her. She was so positive. Salute to her, for the way she stood up for the team," Harmanpreet said.
Even though her team lost its third World Cup final in a row, the South Africa captain said she believes her team continues to evolve — and that an elusive ICC trophy will come if they continue to perform at the highest level.
The Proteas were runners-up at the Women's T20 World Cups in 2023 and 2024 as well, losing to Australia and then New Zealand.
Hosts India clinched their maiden ICC Women's Cricket World Cup title with a superb win over South Africa in the final.
Reflecting on the growth her side has made since reaching their first major final on home soil in 2023, Wolvaardt said, "After that first one (2023 T20 World Cup) at Newlands, we had domestic contracts introduced. That’s really big for our depth as a team. The next one (2024) made us a bigger name in cricket, I guess. We’re now the team that consistently makes finals, whereas before it was maybe a one-time thing. I’m really proud that we’ve reached three in a row — it shows we’re doing something right domestically and as a squad, consistency-wise.
"Hopefully we can keep reaching finals, and one day, one day, we can win one."
Wolvaardt's consistent show at the top of South Africa's batting order was one of the major reasons behind the Proteas' strong run at the World Cup. The 26-year-old enjoyed a record-breaking campaign, amassing a whopping 571 runs in nine innings at an outstanding average of 71.37, including two centuries and three fifties — breaking Australia's Alyssa Healy’s record for the most runs in a single edition of the tournament. She also emulated Healy's feat of scoring centuries in both the semifinal (169 vs South Africa) and the final (101 vs India).
"I think my ODI cricket has come a long way in this tournament. To win games, you've got to be positive and aggressive, and I've really tried to explore that. It hasn't been my best year in ODI cricket — I was maybe too conservative and one-dimensional. So I’m really happy with the different options I was able to bring in throughout this tournament. Today, I scored a lot of leg-side boundaries, which is something I’ve been working on to open different spaces.”
The South African captain said her team had plenty of positives to take from the tournament.
"I think it's been a great campaign for us — to make it all the way to the final is really awesome. I think we’ll still look back at this tournament with a lot of positives. We played some really good cricket throughout. At one stage, we won five games in a row, which is pretty big for our group. We're just searching for that consistency, which is something we don’t necessarily have in bilaterals. So I’m really proud that we’re able to perform in big tournaments," she noted.
Wolvaardt , who played a brilliant lone hand in the summit clash — scoring 101 off 98 balls as her team lost by 52 runs to India, who went on to clinch their maiden World Cup title — confessed that it was "frustrating" that Shafali, who had earlier smashed a superb 78-ball 87, was able to bag two big wickets in the final.
Coming into the final, Shafali had bowled just 14 overs and taken a single wicket in 30 ODIs. Yet, it took her only two balls to end a 52-run stand between South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus in the 21st over with a return catch. And with the first ball of her second over, she got another big wicket as Marizanne Kapp was strangled down the leg side.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
"We didn't really expect her to bowl much today. So, a bit of a surprise factor from them. She just kind of bowled with the front of the hand and really slow and was able to pick up a couple of wickets. In a World Cup final, you don't want to lose wickets to a part-time bowler. But it’s frustrating that she was able to pick up two — two big ones as well — and then we almost had to err on the side of caution to not give her any more wickets. She bowled pretty well. Frustrating, I guess, because it's not really the person you plan for. But she played well," Wolvaardt said at the post-final presser.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that she had a gut feeling it was Shafali's day when she threw the ball to the opener with South Africa ticking along in their run chase of 299 in the World Cup final.
"When Laura and Sune were batting, they were looking really good, and I just saw Shafali standing there. The way she was batting today, I knew it was her day," Harmanpreet said at the presentation ceremony. "She was doing something special today, and I just thought I have to go with my gut feeling. If my heart was saying I should give her at least one over, I was going to do it. And then I just asked her, 'Can you bowl one over?' She was so ready — she’s always wanted to bowl for the team. I think that was a turning point for us."
Shafali only came into India's squad before the semi-finals after opener Pratika Rawal suffered an injury during India’s last league-stage match that ruled her out of the tournament. "When she came to the team, we told her, 'We might need your two or three overs.' And she said, 'If you give me the ball, I’ll bowl 10 overs for the team.' That showed how confident she was. Credit goes to her. She was so positive. Salute to her, for the way she stood up for the team," Harmanpreet said.
Even though her team lost its third World Cup final in a row, the South Africa captain said she believes her team continues to evolve — and that an elusive ICC trophy will come if they continue to perform at the highest level.
The Proteas were runners-up at the Women's T20 World Cups in 2023 and 2024 as well, losing to Australia and then New Zealand.
Hosts India clinched their maiden ICC Women's Cricket World Cup title with a superb win over South Africa in the final.
Reflecting on the growth her side has made since reaching their first major final on home soil in 2023, Wolvaardt said, "After that first one (2023 T20 World Cup) at Newlands, we had domestic contracts introduced. That’s really big for our depth as a team. The next one (2024) made us a bigger name in cricket, I guess. We’re now the team that consistently makes finals, whereas before it was maybe a one-time thing. I’m really proud that we’ve reached three in a row — it shows we’re doing something right domestically and as a squad, consistency-wise.
"Hopefully we can keep reaching finals, and one day, one day, we can win one."
Wolvaardt's consistent show at the top of South Africa's batting order was one of the major reasons behind the Proteas' strong run at the World Cup. The 26-year-old enjoyed a record-breaking campaign, amassing a whopping 571 runs in nine innings at an outstanding average of 71.37, including two centuries and three fifties — breaking Australia's Alyssa Healy’s record for the most runs in a single edition of the tournament. She also emulated Healy's feat of scoring centuries in both the semifinal (169 vs South Africa) and the final (101 vs India).
"I think my ODI cricket has come a long way in this tournament. To win games, you've got to be positive and aggressive, and I've really tried to explore that. It hasn't been my best year in ODI cricket — I was maybe too conservative and one-dimensional. So I’m really happy with the different options I was able to bring in throughout this tournament. Today, I scored a lot of leg-side boundaries, which is something I’ve been working on to open different spaces.”
The South African captain said her team had plenty of positives to take from the tournament.
"I think it's been a great campaign for us — to make it all the way to the final is really awesome. I think we’ll still look back at this tournament with a lot of positives. We played some really good cricket throughout. At one stage, we won five games in a row, which is pretty big for our group. We're just searching for that consistency, which is something we don’t necessarily have in bilaterals. So I’m really proud that we’re able to perform in big tournaments," she noted.
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