India Vs South Africa, ICC Women's World Cup 2025 Final: Proteas Won't Rely On Past Success Against IND-W – Woolvardt

South Africa women's team skipper Laura Wolvaardt, on Saturda,y said that the Proteas would not rely on their recent record against India during the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 final. Wolvaardt highlighted the "completely different" dynamics of knockout stage cricket, downplaying past results against the strong Indian team.

India and South Africa will clash in the final at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, November 2. Read what India's captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, said on the eve of the match.

Wolvaardt Stresses Knockout Dynamics

Laura Wolvaardt, the tournament's leading run-scorer with 470 runs, cited India batter Jemimah Rodrigues' "special" 127 not out against Australia in the semifinal to illustrate her point.

"Knockout cricket is completely different to league cricket," she said. "We've seen people are able to do some very special things in knockout games like we saw from Jemi the other night."

The South African captain emphasised ignoring past group-stage results, noting India's narrow three-wicket loss to the Proteas at Visakhapatnam earlier in the league stage. India, who are in an ODI World Cup final for the third time, have lost all three matches to the Proteas since 2017.

However, Wolvaardt maintained, "We know we have to play some really good cricket." She acknowledged India's strength, noting the team also comes off "a really good game" against Australia. "They'll be high on confidence," she stated.

"We can't sort of bring any of our history into this game," she said, "whether it would be finals that we've lost or games that we've won against India, we're just really trying to erase all of that stuff and start completely afresh."

Navigating Home Pressure In Navi Mumbai

South Africa face a significant challenge in the final, which will be played at Navi Mumbai. India seeks their maiden World Cup title and their first tournament win against the Proteas since 2005. A packed home crowd will be supporting the Women in Blue.

"It's going to be a very tough game with the whole crowd behind India, probably a sold-out stadium," Woolvardt said. "It's going to be a very exciting opportunity, but at the same time, it puts a lot of pressure on them (India) as well."

"They have the whole country behind them and are sort of expected to win," she added, anticipating that this will be "a really big crowd – probably the biggest crowd that a lot of our girls have not played in front of – a lot of eyeballs on the game, a lot of added pressure."

When asked about silencing the home crowd, Wolvaardt replied, "Hopefully we win. I guess that will silence them."

Reflecting On Women's Cricket Evolution

The final of the 13th edition of the Women's ODI World Cup features neither Australia nor England. Wolvaardt mentioned this development reflects the growth of women’s cricket, which remarkably began two years before the men's event in 1973.

"It just shows how much the women's game is developing and how different countries are being able to use new resources and develop really good quality cricketers," she said.

This is South Africa's maiden ODI World Cup final, though they reached the summit clashes of the last two T20 World Cups, losing both. "I'm really trying not to think about the result in those finals," she said, adding that she also avoids thinking about "the first time I was in the final." She said, "You automatically think about the trophy and about winning."

"The first time you're in those finals it feels like a really big, fast-paced event," she said, emphasising the need to "slow it down and take a big breath" and hoping the team can achieve this.

The captain also revealed that she avoids delivering grand dressing room speeches. Woolvardt also highlighted head coach Mandla Mashimby's impact, revealing that she "normally does the really inspirational stuff", including "that 'you're carrying your country' type of thing."

"I just come in with a little 'stay calm girls' at the end," Woolvardt said.

"I think it'll be super important for us to just stay as present as we can tomorrow," Woolvardt added. "There's going to be a lot of noise, a lot happening, a lot of maybe different routines than you're used to in a normal game. But it's just a game of cricket, and whichever team is able to do the basics for long and sort of hold their nerve for longer."

(With PTI Inputs)