ALL SURPRISES, PLEASE – India take on South Africa in the CWC final

When we started the Women’s Cricket World Cup coverage a month ago, Clare McEwen thought she’d probably be writing the final preview for Australia versus England. Or at least Australia, since England’s form was still patchy. But this is sport and anything can happen. And it did. 

In the semi-finals, England were embarrassed by South Africa, who took revenge for the 69 all-out scoreline in their opening fixture. South Africa batted first, which hasn’t always served them well this tournament. But with a magnificent 169 off 143 balls from Laura Wolvaardt and decent contributions from Tazmin Brits (45) and Marizanne Kapp (42), South Africa posted 319. Despite Sophie Ecclestone being in good form and recording bowling stats of 4 for 44, England just couldn’t shift the South African captain. With a solid score on the board, South Africa wasted no time with the ball and had England three wickets down without a run on the board. Kapp was on fire and took five wickets for only 20 runs off seven overs. England fell apart and scored 194. South Africa, despite a terrible start to the competition, are finalists.

In the other semi-final, hosts India took on the unbeaten Aussies. Nobody was looking beyond Australia as champions, having looked unbeatable throughout the competition. India had barely scraped through to the semi-finals but the talismanic Smriti Mandhana was beginning to knock herself into form: could they cause an upset? It seemed unlikely. Although Australia’s captain and number one, Alyssa Healy was out for only 5, Phoebe Litchfield posted a century (119) with Ellyse Perry supporting her with 77. It was then that Australia began to wobble, losing a couple of wickets quickly. Australia helped the Indian bowlers out by losing three wickets to run outs and the last four wickets went in quick succession for only a handful of runs. Still, 338 was a solid total and India still had their work cut out to chase it down.

But chase it down they did. The runs didn’t come from Smriti, though, who looked to be going well before she was caught on 24 (off 24, having already hit a six). It was Jemimah Rodrigues who steadied the ship with 127 not out and captain Harmanpreet Kaur who kept her company (89 off 88 balls). India knew they had to score quickly if they were to reach the winning score within 50 overs. With solid and rapid knocks from Deepti Sharma (24 off 17) and Richa Ghosh (26 off 16), plus 26 extras, they closed in on Australia’s total. Rodrigues and Amanjot Kaur (15 not out) saw the run-chase out, reaching 341 with five wickets and one-and-a-half overs to spare. The two best run chases from this year’s world cup so far have both involved India and Australia with a win apiece.

Current form

It’s fair to say that neither team have been wholly convincing in every match. They have, however, been convincing in the ones that matter: both got through their knockout games, after all.

Right at the very start of the tournament, in my preview article, I talked about never knowing which South Africa would turn up. That has been the story of their tournament. In their opening group phase match they scored 69; in their final group phase match they scored 97; in their semi-final, they battered England with Wolvaardt scoring 169, more than those two totals combined. If Wolvaardt fires with the bat and Kapp brings her best bowling figures, they can beat anyone. Equally, they can fade away very quickly. Which South Africa will turn up to the final?

India have been much more consistent with the bat, with their lowest total being a healthy 247. They haven’t been able to do as much damage with the ball as they’d like, though, and have been pipped to the win on more than one occasion. One of those occasions was against South Africa when the Proteas chased down India’s 251 earlier in the tournament. But you don’t beat Australia by being average. The hosts will be buoyant after putting out the favourites.

Prediction

I don’t want to jinx them (I predicted a solid win for England in the semi-finals!), but I’m going for India as winners of the 2025 Cricket World Cup. They’ve been consistent throughout. Both semi-finals saw the winners overcome opponents who had beaten them earlier in the tournament; so I’m going for India getting revenge for their earlier defeat at the hands of South Africa.

When to watch

Sunday 2nd November