'Watershed Moment': Coach Amol Mazumdar Hails Shafali Verma After India Beat South Africa to Win Maiden Women's World Cup

Ind-W vs SA-W: It was a night to remember at Navi Mumbai for the Harmanpreet Kaur-led women in blue won their maiden ODI World Cup. India beat South Africa by 52 runs. It is a moment that will now be etched in history and certainly this moment is bound to inspire millions of young girls to take to the sport. The crowd went berserk once Harmanpreet took the final catch. The catch taken by captain for India to win was absolutely befitting. Following the win, coach Amol Mazumdar admitted that he is speechless and also claimed that it is a ‘watershed’ moment. He also went onto hail Shafali Verma, who turned out to be the match-winner on the big night. 

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‘Watershed moment’ 

"I’m speechless. Absolutely proud. They deserve every bit of this moment. The hard work, the belief - they’ve made every Indian proud. We never saw those as losses (talking about the losses in the group stage). We dominated most of those matches. We just needed to finish better - and once we did, there was no looking back. It’s a watershed moment (what does this mean to women's cricket in India)," said coach Amol Mazumdar after India's win. 

"Magical. Semi-final, final - she turns up every time. Runs, wickets, catches - complete performance. Couldn’t be prouder," Mazumdar added. 

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Shafali Shines And How

Young Shafali has truly lived a dream. She was not part of the side initially and was brought in after Pratika Rawal picked up an injury. Shafali came in straight from T20s just for two matches. Against Australia in the semi-final, she could not fire as she perished early. But come the final, she was Indian's protagonist as she hit a brilliant 87 off 78 balls.