They thought their dream was being snatched away from them. Quite a few times, in fact. After three consecutive defeats in the group stage, after an injury to a key player on a night when the weather gods acted finicky, after staring at a mountain of runs against the erstwhile champions in the semifinals, and after South Africa threatened to hunt them down in the final.
But Harmanpreet Kaur and Co have shown they are also escape artists. Sunday’s historic triumph was no different.
Batting first, India played it safe. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said they didn’t want to be over-ambitious with the bat and settled for 300 as a competitive target to defend in a final. They fell short by one run. And the way South Africa crafted their chase, it seemed India had miscalculated. “There was a lot of tension in between when they were batting,” Harmanpreet admitted.
Yet again, though, India dug into their endless resource of guts and grace to swing the momentum back in their favour and lifted the trophy to end decades of heartbreak. And between Harmanpreet’s catch and the midnight party on the ground, India’s players reflected on the key moments that turned the tide.
“In such situations, in these matches, fielding is essential to win. You may get out while batting, you may concede fours and sixes while bowling… that’s not in your control. But you can give an extra push in fielding, put extra effort…” — Radha Yadav
South Africa needed just 52 balls to reach 50 and Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits had silenced the capacity crowd with their flawless batting. The innings was only nine overs old and Harmanpreet had already tried four different bowlers, but none could stem the early flow. It was the first of many times on the night that it felt like the match was slipping away from India. But they found inspiration just at the right time.
Off the third ball of the 10th over, Brits got on the back foot to work a short of a length ball by Renuka Thakur towards mid-on and went for a cheeky single. Amanjot had one-and-a-half stump to aim and got the perfect direct hit, and Brits – who took the longer diagonal route instead of the shorter straighter one – was a yard or two short of the crease. Fielding ended up giving India the first breakthrough and was sharp for most of the night.
The first wicket, and the crowd roared into life.
“It was a gut feeling. I thought it could be risky too. But at the same time, I was positive because she had shown confidence when we spoke to her. I didn’t want to go back to the room later thinking, ‘Why didn’t I try?’” — Harmanpreet Kaur
At 20 overs, they were at 113/2; ahead on the D/L System in case rain, which was lashing some parts of Mumbai, chose to visit the DY Patil Stadium yet again.
Wolvaardt and Sune Luus were dealing in boundaries, showing no signs of discomfort against the frontline bowlers. Harmanpreet handed the ball to Shafali and prayed her gamble wouldn’t backfire. The 21-year-old repaid the trust in ways even the captain hadn’t imagined. Her action — front of the hand with lack of pace – seemed to have caught the South Africans off guard.
With her second ball, Shafali dismissed Luus and on the first ball of her next over, Shafali got the prized wicket of Marizanne Kapp. The twin wickets hurt South Africa. “In a World Cup final, you don’t want to lose wickets to a part-time bowler,” Wolvaardt would say later. “Frustrating that she was able to pick up two big ones.”
Harmanpreet called it the ‘turning point of the match’, and it was hard to disagree with that sentiment.
“She is the senior-most player, when she takes a wicket, it lifts us, the entire bowling unit. She has a lot of experience. She tells us what to do.” — Renuka Thakur
South Africa had lost half their side but they still weren’t completely out of the game. Wolvaardt was approaching her hundred, scoring at run-a-ball, and in Annerie Dercksen, the captain found an able ally with whom she could once again take the game to India.
The Dercksen-Wolvaardt partnership made India sweat. Radha Yadav conceded back-to-back sixes, one off a no-ball and the other from the consequent free hit. Deepti Sharma spilled an easy catch at midwicket when Dercksen was on 23 (off 19) and South Africa had figured out Shafali. Deepti, though, made amends for her dropped catch by squeezing in a perfect yorker at 86kph to uproot Dercksen’s stumps.
It was the second of the five wickets Deepti would take, and a timely one at that.
“The most difficult catch of my life. Until tonight, I’d never fumbled; it was either a drop or a catch, nothing in between. For the first time, God gave me three chances and I am glad I took the final one.” — Amanjot Kaur
South Africa had lost six wickets and still needed 79 runs in the last nine overs but India knew that until Wolvaardt was in the middle, South Africa still had a chance. “After her century, we knew she would go on the offensive and try to charge,” Amanjot said.
Wolvaardt tried to do just that. First ball of the 42nd over, Deepti gave it a little extra flight to lure the South African centurion into a big hit. Wolvaardt fell into the trap and gave it a proper heave. She got the height, but not the distance and Amanjot, at long on, got underneath it. She fluffed it the first time, was unable to hold on to it on the second attempt but gobbled it up with one hand on the third. “That catch was very crucial,” Amanjot said. Indeed, it swung the match decisively in India’s favour.
“Unreal moment… Every World Cup we go in, there have been so many heartbreaks for all of us. The super strength of this team is the way everyone just stuck and played for each other.” – Smriti Mandhana
South Africa needed 53 in the last five with just a wicket in hand and the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Nadine de Klerk. Deepti bowled a low full toss outside off and De Klerk tried to go inside out, aerial over extra cover. Running back, Harmanpreet was looking over her shoulder and plucked the ball out of the air and started running solo with her arms wide open clutching onto the ball and putting it in her pocket, as rest of her teammates mobbed her.
The party began and it didn’t end until after 3 am, when they finally left the ground. The moments were seized.
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