At the stroke of midnight hour, India gets its tryst with destiny

This was a monumental moment not only in Indian cricket, but for women’s sport in the country. one so vast but the sporting success limited to moments that could be counted on the fingers on one hand. No gold medal has adorned the neck of an Indian woman athlete; no world championship metal of yellow hue, no noteworthy trophy decorates the mantlepiece of its hockey stars or footballers or basketballers. And now, they have kissed the most coveted trophy in women’s cricket, the ODI World Cup trophy, one that could potentially unlock the untapped talent in women’s cricket in the vast country.

Comparisons with Kapil Dev’s epochal batch of 1983 would be inevitable. There are fascinating parallels, of them upending the more established powers, of miraculous knocks (Kapil Dev and Jemimah Rodrigues), and of all-round performances in the final (Mohinder Amarnath and Deepti Sharma). But the bumps the women had to navigate were trickier and the dramatis personae involved more diverse. The win would touches cities, towns and villages that have remained otherwise untouched. It joins Rohru in Himachal with Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, Ghuwara in Bundelkhand with Golaghat in Assam. Siliguri, Mohali and Moga, apart from hubs like Delhi and Mumbai, would erupt in joy of their proud daughters.

The tournament must have forged a fierce sense of sisterhood, sculpted by shared doubts, fears, joy and agony. Several times in the tournament they were on the brink of elimination. Three successive defeats in the league stage, a steep score compiled by serial winners Australia, a defiant South Africa captain, Laura Wolvaardt, they experienced several nearly end moments. But they believed, fought, and won. En route, they discovered heroes. Jemimah produced a knock for the ages in the semi-final; Shafali, recalled before the semi-final for the injured Pratika Rawal, scored a fiery 87 and snared two precious wickets, which was more than twice her tally in this format.

But until Wolvaardt perished, India could not breathe comfortably. But with the score on 220 in 41 overs, the required run rate climbing to nearly nine runs an over, the tiring South Africa captain attempted a slog sweep that ended in Amanjot Singh’s palms at deep mid-wicket. She juggled the ball multiple times, but she would not let it drop, even at the cost of her life. That was the precise moment India started to believe, when the life became a dream.

It was a triumph of collectivism. If one failed the other would rise to the occasion. On Sunday, it was the turn of Shafali and Deepti. The latter grabbed a five-for with her accurate off-breaks and a composed half-century. Shafali first blasted a 78-ball 87 before picking two wickets in a seven-over spell of street-smart bowling. At no point did India lose their belief. The start was imperious, the pair of Shafali and Smriti Mandhana adding 104 runs off 106 balls after inserted in overcast conditions, the rains deferring the start by two hours.

The enterprising Verma was the bedrock to India reaching 298/7 after 50 overs. She cashed in on anything full outside the off-stump to drive the ball to the boundary and once both openers saw off the new ball, runs started to flow a lot more easily. Mandhana creamed a few delightful cover drives to get her innings going and the pair brought up the fifty-run stand in the seventh over. Sensing a lack of help for the seamers, Wolvaardt introduced spin in the powerplay, bringing Nonkululeku Mlaba into the attack, but with field restrictions still in place it only gave the pair more freedom to go after the bowling.

Mandhana brought up the 100-run stand in the 18th over, but when it seemed like she would be in for the long haul, Chloe Tryon got the better of her, ending the 104-run first wicket stand. The onus was now on Verma to take the innings forward and she did so responsibly, combining caution with aggression superbly.

She made full use of a reprieve on 56, before a bout of cramps derailed her innings. She eventually fell for 87 but at 166/2 in the 28th over. However, South Africa clawed their way back on a pitch that was slowing down as Wolvaardt rotated her bowlers smartly. Despite some glaring fielding lapses, the South African bowlers stayed disciplined with the ball to keep a lid on the scoring rate. Only a late, much-needed stand of 47 runs in 35 balls between Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh gave the innings the impetus it needed and ensured India got to a score just short of 300.

But that proved more than enough. India’s bowlers were largely disciplined, hitting stifling length and striking at regular intervals. South Africa managed only three fifty-plus stands, Wolvaardt had little support and that did not suffice to grab the dream and destiny from then palms of Harmanpreet and her colleagues.