India Clinch First Women's World Cup

India won their maiden ICC Women’s World Cup, beating South Africa by 52 runs in a rain‑delayed final at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai after posting 298/7 and bowling South Africa out for 246. Shafali Verma scored 87 in the final, Deepti Sharma made 58 and took 5/39, and Smriti Mandhana finished the tournament with 434 runs, breaking Mithali Raj’s Indian single‑edition World Cup record. South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt finished as the tournament’s leading run‑scorer and set the overall single‑edition runs record. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur took the decisive catch to seal the win, which ends decades of near‑misses and has been widely likened to India’s 1983 moment. The ICC announced winners’ prize money of USD 4.48 million (runners‑up USD 2.24 million) from a USD 13.88 million pool, and reactions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tech leaders and former players underscored the result’s national significance.