Laura Wolvaardt admitted that she did not expect Shafali Verma to bowl as much as she did in the final of the Women's World Cup 2025 in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, November 2. Verma's 87 off 78 was followed by 2/36 in seven overs as the 21-year-old secured her the Player of the Match award for his all-round display as India bagged the summit clash.
Wolvaardt conceded that her team had not anticipated Verma to bowl a lot on an occasion as high-stakes as the World Cup final. She also commented that the two
wickets early on in her spell limited South Africa to just playing her out instead of taking the charge against her.
"Didn't really expect her to bowl much today, so a bit of a surprise factor from them. She bowled front of the hand and really slow and was able to pick up a couple of wickets. In a World Cup final, you don't want to lose wickets to a part-time bowler, but frustrating that she was able to pick up two big ones. We almost had to err on the side of caution to not give her any more wickets. She bowled pretty well. Frustrating, because it's not really the person you plan for. But yeah, she played well," stated Wolvaardt at the post-match press conference, as quoted by India Today.
Ever since Shafali picked up the couple of wickets, Indiawere ahead in the contest and never let the opposition build any sort of momentum in their run-chase. Wolvaardt's valiant 101 off 98 was not enough for her team, as South Africa fell well short by 52 runs in the end.
Verma was brought onto bowl in the 21st over of the second innings. She dismissed Sune Luus (25 off 31) and Marizanne Kapp (4 off 5) in successive overs to halt the momentum South Africa had gained from the start. Verma conceded only 36 runs in her seven overs in what was an invaluable contribution from her end.
