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It was the third delivery of the 49th over when Amanjot Kaur played a cut shot off Sophie Molineux, scoring the winning runs. India knocked out defending champions Australia with 5 wickets in hand, cruising into the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 final, where they will face South Africa on Sunday. Once the victory was achieved, emotions were galore at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Jemimah Rodrigues, who had restrained herself even after reaching her maiden World Cup hundred, collapsed to the ground in tears. In the dugout, captain Harmanpreet Kaur mirrored the emotion. This was more than a win; it was a statement of India’s intent to create history. After the historic chase of 340, Harmanpreet and head coach Amol Muzumdar spoke to broadcasters. During the conversation, the Indian captain revealed that the head coach lost his cool over the team’s defeat to England in the group stage of the ongoing tournament. “I didn’t speak a word after that match [vs England]. He [Amol Muzumdar] was only speaking, and he can only tell you better [what happened after the game],” said Harmanpreet. Muzumdar took over from there and said, “Just had a little bit of a chat with the players.” That’s when Harmanpreet intervened, saying, “You! You should have finished the match,” and left everybody in splits. “I did say a few things in the dressing room but in a good spirit,” said Muzumdar. Agreeing with the coach, Harmanpreet added, “We all trust whatever he says. We know it’s coming from his heart. And that day, he was a little aggressive, in a good way. But everybody took it so positive.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Star Sports India (@starsportsindia) “After that, I spoke to all the teammates because I wanted to see what they were feeling. Because, sir was expecting something from us. Something that the entire country was expecting from us. But everybody took that in a positive way and the result was evident today,” she concluded. India lost to England by a narrow margin of 4 runs after being in a commanding position. Chasing 289, India appeared in control for much of the innings, with solid contributions from Smriti Mandhana (88), Harmanpreet Kaur (70), and Deepti Sharma (50). However, a flurry of wickets derailed the chase. From needing 55 off 53 balls, India were left with 14 in the final over, and despite Sneh Rana and Amanjot Kaur’s efforts, England held their nerve to clinch victory.
