Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia announced a cash prize of Rs 51 crore for the ICC Women’s World Cup-winning Team India.
Team India finally put the heartbreaks of the 2005 and 2017 World Cup finals behind them as they beat South Africa to secure their maiden world title across ODI and T20I formats.
Speaking to news agency, Saikia said, “In 1983, Kapil Dev brought about a new era and encouragement in cricket by making India win the World Cup. The same excitement and encouragement has been introduced by the women today. Harmanpreet Kaur and her team have not just won the trophy today, they have won the hearts of all Indians. They have paved the way for the next generation of women cricketers… Women’s cricket already reached its next level when our team defeated Australia in the semifinals…”
“Since Jay Shah took charge of the BCCI (serving as secretary of BCCI from 2019 to 2024), he has brought about many transformations in women’s cricket. Pay parity was also addressed. Last month, ICC Chairman Jay Shah increased women’s prize money by 300 per cent. Earlier, the prize money was $2.88 million, and now it has been increased to $14 million. All these steps have greatly promoted women’s cricket. BCCI has also announced a reward prize of Rs 51 crores for the entire team- players, coaches, and support staff,” he added.
Coming to the match, South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first. A century partnership between Smriti Mandhana (45 in 58 balls, with eight fours) and Shafali Verma kick-started things for India, followed by another 62-run stand between Shafali (87 in 78 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Jemimah Rodrigues (24 in 37 balls, with a four). India was at a fine platform of 166/2.
A 52-run stand between skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (20 in 29 balls, with two fours) and Deepti Sharma took India beyond the 200-run mark. A final flourish by Deepti (58 in 58 balls, with three fours and a six) and Richa Ghosh (34 in 24 balls, with three fours and two sixes) helped India reach 298/7 in their 50 overs.
Ayabonga Khaka (3/58) was the leading wicket-taker for SA.
During the run-chase, a fifty-run stand started things for SA, with Tazmin Brits (23 in 35 balls, with two fours and a six) being the first victim. Eventually, despite skipper Laura Wolvaardt’s dominance, the golden arms of Shafali Verma (2/36) and Shree Charani reduced SA to 148/5.
Wolvaardt had a 61-run stand for the sixth-wicket with Annerie Dercksen (37 in 35 balls, with a four and two sixes), which slowly started to rebuild pressure on India. Wolvaardt (101 in 98 balls, with 11 fours and a six) continued her red-hot form, bringing up her century after having registered 169 against England in the semifinal just a few days back.
However, a game-changing spell from Deepti removed both set batters and had Proteas struggling at 221/8. She became the first Indian woman with a WC final four-fer. Deepti (5/39) eventually managed to convert it into a fiver, as India made history to win their maiden WC title by bundling out SA for 246 runs.
