On June 25, 1983, at Lord’s, Viv Richards was standing between India and history. Madan Lal ran in to bowl. Richards mistimed his shot, and Kapil Dev sprinted backwards from mid-wicket, eyes fixed on the
ball. When he clutched it safely, India’s dream was alive. That one catch by the Haryana Hurricane didn’t just dismiss Richards, it turned the tide of the World Cup final and changed Indian cricket forever.
Fast forward forty-two years to November 2, 2025, in Navi Mumbai. Once again, an all-time great stood between India and their first-ever ICC title in women’s cricket. Laura Wolvaardt – graceful, gritty, and commanding – was batting on 101 off 97 balls. South Africa needed 79 runs off 54 deliveries. For India, the game was slipping away.
And then came the moment.
On the very first ball of the 42nd over, Deepti Sharma tossed one up. Wolvaardt went for the big shot. The ball soared high toward deep mid-wicket, where Amanjot Kaur came charging in. She ran, stretched, fumbled once, twice, and, miraculously, held on.
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The crowd erupted. The dressing room rose. India had their Kapil Dev moment.
“It was the most difficult catch of my life,” Amanjot admitted later. “I’ve never fumbled before. I don’t generally get second chances. But this time, God gave me that, and I somehow managed to pull it off.”
At that point, South Africa still needed 79 from 54 with four wickets in hand, but Wolvaardt’s dismissal broke their backbone. From that moment, the momentum shifted, and India never looked back.
Fans are already calling Amanjot’s grab the “Suryakumar moment” of women’s cricket – drawing parallels to Suryakumar Yadav’s jaw-dropping catch of David Miller in the 2024 T20 World Cup final.
But that night in Navi Mumbai, Amanjot was more than just a fielder pulling off a miracle. She was the heartbeat of India’s victory.
Her fingerprints were all over India’s campaign. In the opening match against Sri Lanka in Guwahati, she’d top-scored with a gritty 57 – an innings that anchored India to a winning total of 269/8. And in the final, before taking Wolvaardt’s catch, she had already struck with a lightning-fast direct hit in the 10th over to run out Tazmin Brits, another turning point that tilted the balance.
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Her catch didn’t just end South Africa’s hopes—it sealed India’s destiny. Just as Kapil Dev did in 1983, Amanjot’s hands carried the weight of a nation’s dream and didn’t let it slip.
