This Sunday night (on November 02) has been a special moment to cherish in the history of Indian cricket as Team India ended their long-awaited ICC title drought.

The women in blue under Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy triumphed over South Africa by 52 runs in the grand finale of the Women’s World Cup 2025 at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.

Notably, the hosts lifted their first-ever World Cup trophy in a hard-fought game against the Proteas. Thanks to the swift start provided by the opening pair, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.

However, Deepti Sharma’s all-round performance in terms of batting and bowling was the game-changing moment of the match.

Before finding out the award winners and prize money, let’s take a glance at the notable highlights of the Women’s WC 2025 final.

Smriti and Shafali Provide a Flyer Start to India

Having been invited to bat first, India had a rousing start to their innings with a 104-run opening partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma.

Mandhana fell 5 runs short of accomplishing her 35th ODI fifty. Still, the Indian vice captain made a significant contribution, scoring 45 runs off 58 deliveries (including 8 fours).

While Shafali, on the other hand, missed out on her maiden ODI ton by 13 runs. However, she recorded her career best score in the 50-over format, having compiled 87 runs off 78 balls (including 7 fours and 2 sixes).

Deepti’s 50-Plus Score and Ghosh’s Cameo

As a middle-order batter, Deepti Sharma perfectly anchored the innings by scoring 58 runs off 58 balls (including 3 fours and 1 six) at a strike rate of 100.

Ultimately, Richa Ghosh’s aggressive approach in the death overs with her 24-ball-34 run knock (including 3 fours and 2 sixes) steered India to 298/7 in 50 overs. She batted at a blistering strike rate of 141.67 to ensure her team inches closer to a 300-run mark in a highly stakes battle.

Key Contributors from South African Bowlers

Ayabonga Khaka’s 3-fer (3/58 in 9 overs), along with the supportive contributions of Nadine de Klerk (1/52 in 9 overs), Nonkululeko Mlaba (1/47 in 10 overs), and Chloe Tryon (1/46 in 7 overs), restricted India below 300 total.

Laura Wolvaardt’s Lone Battle in Vain

Despite wickets falling at one end, the Proteas opener, Laura Wolvaardt, continued with her peak form by scoring back-to-back centuries in the knockouts. The right-handed batter scored 101 runs off 98 deliveries at a strike rate of 103.06, which includes 11 fours and 1 six.

However, she lacked the power-hitting abilities to execute a slog sweep shot against Deepti Sharma’s off-spin in the 42nd over. 

Amanjot Kaur nearly escaped from making a mess out of Wolvaardt’s dropped catch. After multiple attempts, she managed to hold the ball firmly at the deep-mid wicket to conclude the innings of the most dangerous and well-settled batter at the crease.

Deepti Sharma’s 5-Wicket Haul

While Shafali Verma (2/36 in 7 overs) and Shree Charani (1/48 in 9 overs) proved their reliability as spinners, Deepti Sharma bagged the spotlight with her 5-fer.

Having bowled 9.3 overs, the spin bowling all-rounder claimed 5 wickets and conceded 39 runs at an economy of 4.10.

Deepti wrapped up the innings by providing the required breakthroughs for India, having claimed these Proteas batters’ wickets at crucial phases of the innings:

• 148/5 in 29.3 overs: Sinalo Jafta (16 runs)
• 209/6 in 39.3 overs: Annerie Dercksen (35 runs)
• 220/7 in 41.1 overs: Laura Wolvaardt (101 runs)
• 221/8 in 41.4 overs: Chloe Tryon (9 runs)
• 246/10 in 45.3 overs: Nadine de Klerk (18 runs)

Most importantly, her 5-wicket haul not only tamed the South African skipper Wolvaardt’s ton, but also saved India from getting choked in their third WC final (after 2005 and 2017).

Award Winners of Women’s WC 2025

Prize Money of Women’s WC 2025

The Indian women’s cricket team bagged the prize money worth USD 4.48 million, which is approximately near to INR 40 crores. This is indeed the highest ever prize money claimed by any winning team in an ICC tournament in the history of cricket.

Here is how the overall prize pool of the tournament valued upto USD 13.88 million (around INR 123 crore) has been distributed for the eight teams that participated in the ICC’s prestigious event:

Additionally, teams will be awarded an extra cash prize of $34,314 ( INR 30.5 lakhs approximately) for winning each game in a group stage fixture of the tournament.