Shafali Verma unleashed a stunning knock with the bat in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Final match vs. South Africa at Navi Mumbai and scored her highest individual ODI score of all time. The 19-year-old opener was out of the milestone by only 13 runs but her fiercely positive and yet calm approach of the innings completely suited the team as she sparked India off. Verma’s energising 87 runs filled with nice and eager ground strokes and clever shot selections didn’t only show her strength but also her impressive growth and character of the game, which are typical of her developing talent.
Shafali Verma’s masterclass in patience and power
In a stark contrast to her earlier assault, Shafali was extremely patient in the final. She waited for the loose balls and chose her shots wisely, thereby giving Smriti Mandhana time to get comfortable. The pair then went on to put together a magnificent 104-run opening partnership at the DY Patil Stadium, thus laying a firm base for India's innings.
Nevertheless, weariness started to get the better of her. After achieving her half-century, Shafali fought against cramps and was obviously very uncomfortable when running between the wickets. As she had no option but to speed up the game, she took the risk with her shots and was finally out in the 28th over, just short of what would have been a historic hundred — the first-ever century by an Indian, male or female, in an ICC ODI World Cup Final.
Though she was not able to reach the landmark, Shafali's performance got her a record — the highest individual score by a woman cricketer in an ODI World Cup Final, thus going beyond Punam Raut’s 86 from 2017. In addition, she was also quite close to Gautam Gambhir’s 97 — the highest score by an Indian in a men’s World Cup Final.
Highest Scores for India in ICC ODI World Cup Finals
97 – Gautam Gambhir (2011 Men’s ODI World Cup)
91 – MS Dhoni (2011 Men’s ODI World Cup)*
87 – Shafali Verma (2025 Women’s ODI World Cup)
86 – Punam Raut (2017 Women’s ODI World Cup)
82 – Virender Sehwag (2003 Men’s ODI World Cup)
