South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt revealed that her team did not expect Shafali Verma to be so effective with the ball as they were during the final of the Women’s World Cup 2025 in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, November 2. Shafali’s dominance in the game, an aggressive 87 off 78 balls followed by 2/36 in seven overs, got her the Player of the Match award as India secured their first Women’s World Cup title.
Shafali Verma’s unexpected spell stuns South Africa
Speaking after the game, Wolvaardt revealed that her team hadn’t expected Verma to bowl so many overs on such a high-stakes stage. “Didn’t really expect her to bowl much today, so it was a bit of a surprise factor from them,” Wolvaardt said at the post-match press conference. “She bowled front of the hand and really slow, and managed to pick up a couple of wickets. In a World Cup final, you don’t want to lose wickets to a part-time bowler, but frustrating that she got two big ones.”
The South African skipper acknowledged that Verma’s early breakthroughs changed the course of the match. “We almost were on the side of caution to not give her any more wickets. She bowled pretty well. Frustrating, because it’s not really the person you plan for. But yeah, she played well,” Wolvaardt added.
Verma's surprise bowling performance was the main reason for India's victory. After she got rid of the important batters quickly in the chase, South Africa had a hard time getting a flow of the game, and even though Wolvaardt made a brave 101 off 98 balls, the visitors were defeated by 52 runs as India made a first-ever win at the DY Patil Stadium.
