Toss South Africa chose to bowl v India
Two hours after its scheduled start time, the final of World Cup 2025 began with South Africa in the field, having opted to send India in with the prospect of night-time dew and revised targets in mind.Laura Wolvaardt, the South Africa captain, also hoped there could be a bit of stickiness in the pitch for her bowlers to exploit at the start; this was a possibility given how long the square at the DY Patil Stadium had been under covers.
Sharp spells of rain in Navi Mumbai had pushed the match back to the last possible moment it could remain a 50-overs-a-side contest. Any further interruptions will lead to deductions in overs. This was despite the provision of a reserve day: the match officials’ first priority will be to complete the match on Sunday if possible.
Both teams named unchanged XIs. This meant South Africa, who reached the final with a 125-run win over England in their semi-final, will bat all the way down to Nadine de Klerk at No. 9. De Klerk was the match-winner in the league-stage meeting between these teams, scoring an unbeaten 54-ball 84 in a thrilling chase.
India, who completed a record chase of 339 to beat Australia in their semi-final, once again preferred the left-arm spinner Radha Yadav to a second offspinner in Sneh Rana. The fact that every member of South Africa’s XI bats right-handed may have helped tilt the selection in Radha’s favour.
South Africa: 1 Laura Wolvaardt (capt), 2 Tazmin Brits, 3 Anneke Bosch, 4 Sune Luus, 5 Marizanne Kapp, 6 Annerie Dercksen, 7 Sinalo Jafta (wk), 8 Chloe Tryon, 9 Nadine de Klerk, 10 Ayabonga Khaka, 11 Nonkululeko Mlaba.
India XI: 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Amanjot Kaur, 8 Radha Yadav, 9 Kranti Gaud, 10 Shree Charani, 11 Renuka Singh.
