The 2025 Women’s World Cup is drawing to a close at the DY Patel Stadium in Navi Mumbai, with India edging out South Africa to be crowned champions. This was one of the closest World Cup finals in recent times, and there were some tough choices to make in ESPNcricinfo’s Team of the Tournament.
8:05
‘What’s the dream?’ “We live it”
Veda Krishnamurthy looks at what worked in India and what didn’t in South Africa
Runs 434 | Average 54.25 | 99.08 Saudi riyals
So rich was Mandhana’s performance entering the competition that a quiet start – 54 runs in the first three rounds – left viewers scratching their heads. But she turned things around once the big matches arrived: 80 against Australia, 88 against England and 109 in the high-stakes clash against New Zealand. She added 45 points in the final to finish with the highest tally by an Indian in a Women’s World Cup.
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Watch – Mandana hits her first ton in the World Cup
She has reached her 14th century in W-ODI, the second most in the format
Runs 571 | Average 71.37 | 98.78 Saudi riyals
Wolfhardt also had a slow start, but he made up for lost time, scoring 30 or more in seven successive matches – including half-centuries in wins over India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan – and then scoring centuries in each of his two knocks. Her 101 in the final against India may have ended in a lost cause, but her 169 against England to take South Africa to their maiden ODI World Cup final will go down as one of the all-time great performances. Her tally is, by some extent, the highest in the ODI World Cup edition.
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Watch – Wolfhardt reaches 100
Footage from the Women’s World Cup final between India and South Africa in Navi Mumbai
Runs 292 | Average 58.40 | 101.03 Saudi riyals
Speaking of questionable starts… Rodriguez found herself on the bench three weeks into her first ODI World Cup, two ducks and thirty seconds behind. She celebrated her return – and promotion to third place – with a scintillating 76 off 55 balls against New Zealand, before her career-defining 127 failed to end Australia’s reign with a record semi-final chase.
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Watch – Rodriguez brings a ton and keeps India in the game
I brought up an all-time great century in the chase
Runs 208 | 102.97 Saudi riyals | 12 wickets | A4.18
Continuing the trend of a timely peak was Cap, whose first major contribution (apart from a chasing half-century to stabilize against Bangladesh) came in the sixth match of the campaign: 68 not out off 43 balls followed by three new wickets against Pakistan. She then destroyed England’s hopes of chasing 320 in the semi-final with a double knock in the first innings, finishing with 5 for 20, having earlier scored a 33-ball 42.
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Watch – Cap completes her five-wicket haul
Charlie Dean retreats, and South Africa approaches victory
Runs 117 | 85.40 Saudi riyals | wickets 17 | Er 4.45
Sutherland’s consistent mastery at the death, driven by a slower ball off the back of her hand, meant she was the joint-highest wicket-taker before the final. She started with a hat-trick against New Zealand, sparked an Indian collapse with 5 for 40 in Visakhapatnam, and added another three against England – a match in which it was also her only significant outing with the bat.
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Watch – Sutherland cleans up Amy Jones
Annabelle Sutherland knocks the top of the batsman’s stump
Runs 328 | 130.15 Saudi riyals | wicket 7 | Er 5.30
Before 2025, the World Cup had only seen three hundred batsmen finish fifth or lower; Gardner hit two goals in this edition, both amazing recoveries. She turned 128 for 5 into 326 against New Zealand by smashing 115 off 83 balls, then turned a tough chase against England into an easy outing – Australia were 68 for 4 in pursuit of 245 – with 104* off 73. There was a fifty in the semi-final as well, and she was involved with the ball throughout.
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Watch – Gardner’s second hundred of the tournament
Her century helped Australia to another win
Runs 235 | Average 39.16 | 133.52 Saudi riyals | Impeachment 4
Ghosh takes the wicket-keeping gloves in our team because of her finishing prowess. She was the tournament’s fastest scorer as well as the top six scorer. An unbeaten 20-ball 35 pushed India closer to 250 against Pakistan in Colombo. She played a prominent role in both matches against Australia, including a 16-ball 26 in a record semi-final chase; She added 34 off 24 in the title match against South Africa, and her 94 off 77 against the same opponents was an early contender for the tournament…
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Watch: Ghosh drops McGrath
Richa Ghosh sweeps her front leg and hits McGrath to long on
Runs 208 | 131.64 Saudi riyals | wicket 9 | Er 5.30
…only to be outdone by De Klerk later that same evening. De Klerk made the rescue twice in five days in Visakhapatnam: his 84* off 54 against India made one of the greatest ever escapes in the tournament, while his 37* off 29 against Bangladesh avoided one of the big upsets. De Klerk finished as the second fastest run-scorer in this edition, and second in number of sixes, while maintaining her reliable presence with the ball, taking at least a wicket every time she was called upon to bowl.
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Watch – De Klerk wins with a six-point win!
Nadine de Klerk holds her nerve once again to lead SA to a thrilling win
wickets 22 | A 5.52 | Runs 215 | 90.33 Saudi riyals
Deepti’s tournament began with a fifty-three, and ended with a fifty-five – the first such feat in any World Cup final, women’s or men’s. Dipti, the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, became the first player to do a double of more than 200 runs and more than 15 wickets in the women’s ODI World Cup edition. The Player of the Tournament winner also contributed with a four-for-50 in the loss to England, and injected vital momentum into the semi-final chase against Australia with 17 balls and 24.
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Watch – Deepti gets her 150th ODI wicket
Tammy Beaumont swept but was beaten by a flatter delivery
wickets 13 | ABC 17.38 | It is 4.03
King impressed in the tournament, bagging the first seven goals in World Cup history, to deceive South Africa in Indore. But don’t discount the rest of her tournament: two key wickets in the opener against New Zealand, miserable comebacks against Bangladesh (2 for 18) and England (1 for 20), and a maiden fifty from the No. 10 in the women’s white-ball international to stitch a rescue against Pakistan.
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Watch – King completes his historic match with seven goals
South Africa were eliminated from the tournament with a score of 87 in the Women’s World Cup
wickets 16 | Departure 14.25 | It is 4.05
Ecclestone started the tournament playing second fiddle to fellow slow left-arm pacer Linsey Smith against South Africa, but finished as strong as ever. She proved too strong for Bangladesh (3 for 24) and Sri Lanka (4 for 17), and despite tough matches in Indore, and an injury scare before the semi-finals, she was England’s standout performer in the defeat to South Africa with 4 for 44.
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Watch – Ecclestone tricks Athapathu into flying
The SL captain was eventually dismissed for a 39-ball 15
Runs 289 | ave 57.80 | 85.25 Saudi riyals | 4 weeks
In the final chapter of his illustrious ODI career, Devine was the lone star of New Zealand’s campaign, top-scoring in defeats to Australia (112) and South Africa (85), and scoring 63 in the win over Bangladesh. This meant that Devine had 260 after three matches, but New Zealand did not bat for another fortnight, and Devine did not get a perfect knock with low scores against India and England.
