WONDER WOMEN IN WONDERLAND

Shafali, who came into the side from semifinal stage, rises to the occasion to slam 87 off 78 SA skipper Laura Wolvaardt's century goes in vain as India lift their first-ever World Cup crown

- GOMESH S @NaviMumbai

(From left) India's openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on a partnership of 104 runs on Sunday; Shafali Verma & Harmanpreet Kaur (front centre) celebrate a wicket | PTI

(PTI)

HARMANPREET Kaur ran back from short covers on the 46th over of the chase, trying to catch the ball at the DY Patil Stadium. It was not just a catch, but adream; a destiny and a World Cup. One they had been searching for decades with little luck.

From the moment, she held on to it—one that dismissed South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk and made them World Champions — everything came to a standstill.

Kaur ran and ran and ran in joy around the ground until she ran into Arundhati Reddy and leapt on to her. Soon they were engulfed by the rest of the team —the two South Africans in the middle of the pitch trying to make sense of it—and the tears broke. They were inconsolable.