Navi Mumbai: South Africa’s captain, Laura Wolvaardt, openly admitted that the part-time off-spin bowling of Indian opener Shafali Verma became an unexpected “surprise factor” in the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup final. Verma’s ability to claim two pivotal wickets while conceding a mere 36 runs decisively shifted the momentum in India’s favor at the DY Patil Stadium.
Wolvaardt, who delivered a magnificent solo performance in the climactic match, scoring 101 runs off just 98 balls as her team ultimately fell short by 52 runs to India (who secured their first-ever World Cup title), expressed her frustration. She highlighted that Verma, who had also scored an impressive 87 runs off 78 balls earlier, managed to bag two significant wickets, a situation she found particularly vexing.
Prior to the final, Shafali had bowled only 14 overs across 30 ODIs, taking just one wicket. Yet, in this crucial encounter, it took her only two deliveries to break a vital 52-run partnership between Wolvaardt and Sune Luus in the 21st over, snatching a return catch. Furthermore, with the very first ball of her second over, she secured another major breakthrough, trapping Marizanne Kapp down the leg side.
“We honestly didn’t anticipate her bowling much today. Her off-spin was a genuine surprise from their side. She bowled quite slowly, using the front of her hand, and managed to pick up a couple of wickets. In a World Cup final, you certainly don’t want to lose wickets to a part-time bowler. It was frustrating, I suppose, because she wasn’t someone we had planned for. But credit to her, she bowled exceptionally well,” Wolvaardt stated during the post-final press conference.
India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, revealed that she acted on a strong gut feeling when she handed the ball to Shafali. This was during South Africa’s chase of 299 runs, when Laura and Sune were batting brilliantly and the match was hanging in the balance.
“When Laura and Sune were batting, they looked incredibly settled. I just saw Shafali standing there, and given how well she had batted earlier, I knew it was her day to do something special,” Harmanpreet explained at the presentation ceremony. “I decided to trust my intuition. My heart was telling me to give her at least one over, and I went with it. When I asked her, ‘Can you bowl an over?’, she was completely ready – she always wants to contribute to the team with the ball. I believe that moment was truly a turning point for us.”
Shafali had only joined India’s squad before the semi-finals after opener Pratika Rawal sustained an injury in India’s last league-stage match, forcing her out of the tournament. “When she joined the team, we told her we might need two or three overs from her. And she responded, ‘If you give me the ball, I’ll bowl 10 overs for the team.’ That demonstrated her immense confidence. Full credit to her. She was so positive and stood up for the team beautifully,” Harmanpreet added.
Despite her team’s third consecutive World Cup final loss, the South African captain maintained her belief that the team is continually evolving. She expressed confidence that an elusive ICC trophy would eventually come their way if they maintained their high level of performance.
The Proteas had previously finished as runners-up in the Women’s T20 World Cups in both 2023 and 2024, suffering defeats to Australia and then New Zealand, respectively.
Meanwhile, host nation India celebrated clinching their first-ever ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup title with a spectacular victory over South Africa in the final.
Reflecting on her side’s progress since reaching their first major final on home soil in 2023, Wolvaardt remarked, “After our first major final (2023 T20 World Cup) at Newlands, we saw the introduction of domestic contracts, which has significantly boosted our team’s depth. The subsequent final (2024) helped us establish a stronger presence in cricket. We are now consistently reaching finals, whereas before it might have been seen as a one-off achievement. I am incredibly proud that we’ve made it to three finals in a row – it truly shows we’re doing things right, both domestically and as a squad, in terms of consistency.”
She concluded with a hopeful note: “Hopefully, we can continue to reach finals, and one day, we will finally win one.”
Wolvaardt’s exceptional and consistent performance at the top of South Africa’s batting order was a primary catalyst for the Proteas’ strong showing throughout the World Cup. The 26-year-old had a record-breaking campaign, amassing an astounding 571 runs across nine innings at an impressive average of 71.37, including two centuries and three half-centuries. This performance surpassed Australia’s Alyssa Healy’s record for the most runs scored in a single edition of the tournament. Furthermore, Wolvaardt matched Healy’s remarkable achievement of scoring centuries in both the semi-final (169 against South Africa) and the final (101 against India).
“I feel my ODI cricket has advanced considerably during this tournament,” Wolvaardt reflected. “To secure victories, you need to be positive and aggressive, and I’ve consciously worked on embracing that approach. While it hasn’t been my strongest year in ODI cricket, perhaps I was too conservative and one-dimensional. So, I’m genuinely pleased with the diverse options I managed to incorporate throughout this tournament. Today, I scored numerous leg-side boundaries, which is an area I’ve focused on to open up different scoring zones.”
The South African captain emphasized that her team had numerous positives to take away from the tournament.
“I believe it has been a fantastic campaign for us – reaching the final is truly remarkable. I think we will definitely look back at this tournament and find many positives. We played some really excellent cricket throughout. At one point, we even secured five consecutive wins, which is a significant achievement for our group. We are continuously striving for that consistency, something we don’t always maintain in bilateral series. So, I’m extremely proud that we are capable of performing strongly in major tournaments,” she observed.