India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said it was her “gut feeling” to bowl part-time spinner Shafali Verma, which paid rich dividends as they claimed their maiden Women’s World Cup title at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday.
Verma’s breezy 87 was crucial to India’s total of 298-7 but Laura Wolvaardt led their robust reply with a stellar 101 to make sure it was far from a cakewalk for Kaur and her team.
South Africa cruised to 113-2 in 20 overs when Kaur sprang a surprise by tossing the ball to Verma, who had gone wicketless in the five ODIs she had bowled prior to this match.
The 21-year-old, who was later adjudged player of the match, responded by dismissing Sune Luus with her second delivery to break a dangerous stand and removed Marizanne Kapp in her next over to turn the match on its head.
“When Laura and Sune were batting, they were looking really good,” Kaur said at the presentation ceremony.
“I just saw Shafali standing there … I thought I have to go with my gut feeling. If my heart was saying, I had to give her at least one over. And that was the turning point for us.”
Verma was drafted into the side ahead of the knockout stage as a late replacement for the injured Pratika Rawal.
“When she came to the team, we spoke to her that we might need 2-3 overs (from her), and she said ‘if you ask me, I’ll bowl 10 overs’. Salute to her.”
Wolvaardt took pride in how they bounced back after being routed for 69 by England before beating them comprehensively in the semi-final.
“It’s unfortunate to be on the losing side today, but I’m sure we’ll definitely grow from this as a group,” said the opener.
“We were either really good or really bad, but thankfully, there was a lot more really good throughout this tournament.
“There were so many different players stepping up. It’s been an amazing tournament for a lot of them, and I’m just really proud of the resilience we showed to make it all the way to the final.”
(Reuters)