Women's World Cup: Packed stadium braves rain as India throw down the gauntlet in final

The difference that Shafali Varma can make to the strike-rate of the Indian team was palpable in the rain-delayed final of the ICC Women’s World Cup on Sunday.

It’s a pity that the precocious talent, coming in as a replacement for injured Pratika Rawal since the semi-final, failed to keep her date with the first ODI century – but some late blitz from Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh ensured it did not prove too costly in the ultimate analysis.  

 A 35,000-strong crowd filled the terraces at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, braving a steady downpour before the game which delayed the start by an hour. However, a full 50-overs contest finally got underway and Shafali set the tone with a characteristic freeflowing half-century – her fifth in this format. A century looked there for the taking when she failed to get enough elevation against seamer Ayabonga Khaka for a easy catch at mid-off for 87.

If the South African spinners did a good job of pulling things back midway, a fine run-a-ball 58 by senior allrounder Deepti and spunky 34 by wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh helped the hosts to a challenging total of 298 for seven.

 It was because of her impetuousity at times that Shafali, someone who has already carved a niche for herself in the T20 game at 21, that she was sidelined from the 50-overs format for about an year. The call-up was almost a stroke of destiny as Pratika, Smriti Mandhana’s opening partner, was having a prolific tournament since a freak injury came in the way while fielding in an inconsequential match against Bangladesh.

 After falling cheaply in the semi-final against Australia, the Delhi girl – often hailed as a female version of Virender Sehwag – betrayed no signs of nerve on the big occasion. She put up 104 with the vice-captain in quick time and an indication of the fluency can be gauged from the fact that her fifty came in 49 balls.   

 The last time she surpassed the 50-run mark in ODIs was in July 2022 while on the eve of this match, the opener had figured in 31 ODIs for 712 runs with a highest score of 71 runs at an average of 24.55.

South Africa won the toss and decided to bowl first with an aim to make use of the heavy conditions after the rain. The possibility of dew factor helping their batters, which helped in India’s record chase against the Aussies, must have also played in the Proteas’ minds.

 Both India and South Africa are chasing their maiden ODI World Cup – what with seven-time champions Australia and England knocked out of the tournament.