India were batting in a rain-shortened match. Shafali Verma was hitting everything. Deepti Sharma made 58 runs. India finished on 298/7. South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt walked out to chase a mountain. She hit a century. 101 runs off 123 balls a World Cup Final hundred and still lost.
Because Deepti Sharma the same batter who had just scored 58. Then took 5 wickets for 39 runs from 10 overs. India won by 52 runs. India lifted the Women’s ODI World Cup for the first time in their history. That is the India Women vs South Africa Women cricket rivalry in 2025. A match where the losing team’s captain scored a World Cup Final century and India still won it with a bowling performance.
From the first ODI in 1997 to the 2026 T20I series in South Africa where SA bounced back to win 3-1 just five months after losing the World Cup Final this is the complete India Women vs South Africa Women cricket timeline. Every format. Every turning point. Every match that changed the story.
Head-to-Head at a Glance: All-Format Record (Updated May 2026)
Overall Head-to-Head
| Format | Total Matches | India Wins | SA Wins | NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 34 | 20 | 13 | 1 |
| T20Is | 20+ | India slight edge | Competitive | — |
| Tests | 1 (recent) | 1 | 0 | — |
| Women’s ODI WC | 6 | 3 | 3 | — |
The Rivalry’s Identity: Two Completely Different Cricket Stories
India leads ODIs 20-13 and has won the most recent ICC Final between these two teams.
South Africa leads bilateral T20I cricket in 2026 winning the April 2026 T20I series 3-1 on home soil.
The India Women vs South Africa Women rivalry is the clearest example of bilateral vs. ICC tournament psychology in women’s cricket. South Africa perform best in home bilateral series and in early-stage tournament cricket, where their aggressive batting (Wolvaardt, de Klerk, Tazmin Brits) and fast pitch conditions give them a technical advantage. India peak specifically in ICC knockouts winning the 2025 World Cup Final against the same SA team that beat them in the group stage six weeks earlier. The same tension pattern that defines men’s India vs SA cricket is now visible in the women’s game.
1997: The First Meeting: Rivalry Begins
The India Women and South Africa Women first played each other in 1997.
South Africa’s women’s cricket programme was, like the men’s, formally readmitted to international cricket following the end of apartheid and SA’s ICC re-entry in 1991. India had played women’s cricket since 1976. The first formal bilateral contact between the two women’s teams came in 1997.
Women’s cricket between India and South Africa began 6 years after men’s cricket between the two nations resumed (1991). The women’s bilateral relationship has therefore always been younger, less historically loaded, and more open to competitive balance shifts which is precisely why SA’s rise in the late 2010s and 2020s has been able to challenge India’s dominance more quickly than in men’s cricket.
2022: The Turning Point Year SA’s ICC Women’s World Cup Rise
Women’s ODI World Cup 2022, Christchurch, New Zealand.
South Africa beat India at the 2022 Women’s World Cup confirming SA’s emergence as a genuine ICC tournament contender in women’s cricket.
SA’s 2022 World Cup run ended in the semi-final (they lost to Australia). Their best ICC Women’s WC result at that point. That semi-final appearance, followed by defeating India in the group stage, established the template for SA’s 2025 campaign.
SA’s 2022 win over India in the Women’s ODI World Cup was the first signal that this rivalry was evolving from India dominance to genuine competition. Before 2022, India led bilateral ODIs comfortably and won World Cup meetings. The 2022 Christchurch win was the moment SA proved they could beat India in ICC conditions not just in bilateral cricket at home.
2024 India Home Series: Test Dominance + T20I Extremes
South Africa Women toured India in June–July 2024 for a historic multi-format series the first time a Women’s Test was played between these two nations in nearly a decade.
Only Test: Chennai (June 28 – July 1) India 603/6 Declared, SA Followed On
| Team | Score |
|---|---|
| India Women | 603/6 declared + 37/0 |
| South Africa Women | 266 & 373 (following on) |
| Result | India won by 10 wickets |
India 603/6 declared: Their highest-ever score against South Africa in Women’s Test cricket. SA were made to follow on 337 runs behind one of the largest follow-on margins in Women’s Test history. Even in the follow-on innings, SA posted a fighting 373. But India chased 37 for 0 to win by 10 wickets.
India’s 603/6 declared at Chennai in 2024 represents something structural India’s batting depth in Women’s Tests is now at a level where they can post 600-run totals against credible opposition at home. This is the same multi-format dynamic the men’s team has demonstrated: India batting on flat Chennai surfaces until the opposition has no psychological energy to fight back. SA’s 373 in the follow-on showed their resilience but you cannot draw a match after conceding a 337-run first-innings deficit.
3-Match ODI Series: India Won 2-0
India won the 3-match ODI series 2-0, the first match at Bengaluru on June 16, the second on June 19.
India’s bowling combination with Deepti Sharma as the anchor and Renuka Singh providing seam movement — proved superior across both victories. SA’s batting lineup showed the depth (Wolvaardt, Tryon, de Klerk) that would later power their 2025 World Cup campaign, but lacked the partnership consistency against Indian spin in sub-continental conditions.
T20I Series (1-1 Split): SA 84 All Out, India 88/0 in 10.5 Overs
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SA 84 all out in the 3rd T20I. their lowest-ever T20I score against India.
India chased 85 without losing a single wicket in 10.5 overs. India won by 10 wickets with 55 balls remaining — the most comfortable T20I win India have registered against South Africa.
Counterintuitive idea: SA’s 84 all out in the 3rd T20I came 4 days after they had posted 189/4 in the 1st T20I on the same ground. Same venue, same conditions, same teams — scores of 189 and 84 within one week. That range (189 to 84) is the widest batting score variance SA have produced against India in any T20I bilateral series. It shows SA’s T20I batting has extreme peaks and extreme collapses — high risk, high reward — which is why they can both dominate and collapse in this rivalry depending on the pitch and conditions.
Women’s ODI World Cup 2025. Group Stage: SA Beat India by 3 Wickets
October 9, 2025. Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
| Team | Score |
|---|---|
| India Women | 251 all out (49.5 overs) |
| South Africa Women | 252/7 (48.5 overs) |
| Result | SA won by 3 wickets |
Richa Ghosh 94: A Rescue Mission in a Losing Cause
India were in deep trouble at the crease wickets had fallen early when Richa Ghosh arrived. She scored 94 off 77 balls 11 fours and 4 sixes and almost single-handedly pulled India to 251.
| SA Batting | Runs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nadine de Klerk | 84* | Unbeaten chase anchor |
| Laura Wolvaardt | 70 | Platform builder |
| Chloe Tryon | 3/32 (bowling) | India’s innings: three wickets |
De Klerk 84* and Wolvaardt 70 in the chase a 140+ run partnership that consumed pressure and made 252 reachable with 7 balls remaining.
Richa Ghosh’s 94 off 77 in a losing cause at Visakhapatnam is one of the finest individual innings in women’s World Cup history against South Africa and almost nobody remembers it, because India lost the match. De Klerk’s 84* received the Player of the Match and deserved it. But Ghosh’s rescue job stabilising an India innings that was collapsing was the performance that made the match competitive rather than a SA walkover. Context matters: India could easily have been bowled out for 190 without her.
Women’s ODI World Cup 2025. The Final: India’s Maiden World Cup Title
November 2, 2025. DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.
The same two teams. Six weeks later. A World Cup Final. Different results.
India 298/7: Shafali 87, Deepti 58
| Batter | Runs | Balls | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shafali Verma | 87 | 78 | 9 fours, 5 sixes |
| Deepti Sharma | 58 | — | Middle-order anchor |
| Ayabonga Khaka | 3/58 | — | Best SA bowler |
| India total | 298/7 | 50 ov |
India posted 298/7. A challenging total on the Navi Mumbai surface.
SA 246: Wolvaardt 101 (but Deepti Sharma 5/39 ended it)
| Players | Runs | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Laura Wolvaardt | 101 | SA captain, century in a Final |
| Deepti Sharma | 5/39 from 10 overs | Match-winning bowling |
| Sneh Rana | 2-wicket support | |
| SA total | 246 | Lost by 52 runs |
India won by 52 runs. India’s maiden ODI Women’s World Cup title.
The Specific Bowling Anatomy That Won the Final
India didn’t win the 2025 Women’s World Cup Final by batting. They won it because Deepti Sharma who had scored 58 runs then took 5 wickets for 39 runs in 10 overs.
Wolvaardt’s 101 was a captain’s innings under the highest pressure. At the point of her dismissal, SA needed approximately 100 more runs to win with 4-5 wickets remaining. Deepti had Wolvaardt caught, then systematically removed SA’s lower-middle order.
This was the exact moment the Final changed. Wolvaardt was SA’s anchor the one batter keeping the run rate manageable while also scoring. With 100 needed from approximately 12 overs, if Wolvaardt had survived to the 45th over, SA could have won. Deepti removed her, and the remaining SA batters faced 100 runs needed from 12 overs against spinners a different challenge entirely.
Deepti Sharma’s 5/39 in the 2025 Women’s World Cup Final is the most complete individual all-round performance in Women’s World Cup Final history 58 runs as a middle-order anchor, then 5 wickets as the match-winning bowler. It is not celebrated at the level it deserves because Shafali’s 87 and the India-winning storyline dominated the coverage. But if Deepti had taken 3/60 instead of 5/39, Wolvaardt would likely have seen SA home.
2026 India Women’s Tour of South Africa: T20I Series (SA Won 3-1)
April 17–27, 2026. Kingsmead (Durban), The Wanderers (Johannesburg), Willowmoore Park (Benoni).
This was the first bilateral T20I series between these teams after India’s 2025 World Cup title and SA’s response was clinical.
All 5 T20I Results
SA won the T20I series 3-1.
Match 3: SA 193/1. The Most One-Sided Chase of the Series
April 22, Wanderers, Johannesburg. India 192/4. India posted a challenging T20I total. SA chased it in 16.3 overs, losing only 1 wicket. SA 193/1.
SA won by 9 wickets with 21 balls remaining.
This is the same Wanderers pitch that produced India’s 185/5 in Match 4 (won by India by 14 runs). Two matches on the same ground opposite outcomes based entirely on which team controlled the chase tempo. Match 3 showed SA at their absolute best in T20I batting: openers building a partnership, power-hitting at the 10-over mark, and finishing comfortably inside 17 overs.
SA 193/1 chasing India’s 192/4 at Johannesburg is the single most dominant individual match result of the entire 2026 bilateral series and it came against the reigning Women’s World Cup champions. The Wanderers pitch (2,000m altitude, quick outfield) suits the big-hitting SA openers, who have consistently performed there in T20I cricket. India’s bowling attack, which had been effective in ODI conditions, was exposed on a pitch where the altitude reduces late swing and the boundaries play fast.
India’s Only Win. Match 4: India 185/5, SA 171/9
After three losses, India won Match 4 at the Wanderers by 14 runs India 185/5 beat SA 171/9. This was India’s only win of the 2026 series.
SA needed 186 at the Wanderers the same pitch where they had just chased 193/1 two days earlier. India’s bowling combination restricted SA from their powerplay aggression SA scored significantly fewer runs in overs 1-6 compared to Match 3 and the 9-wicket loss in innings became a 14-run win. Conditions were identical. Tactics were different.
The 2025 World Cup Split: Same Opponents, Same Tournament, Two Different Results
This is the rivalry’s defining structural story.
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Same tournament. Same two teams. The team that won the group stage match lost the Final.
The Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 produced the most dramatic rivalry reversal in women’s cricket in 2025. SA beat India in the group stage with superior batting de Klerk 84*, Wolvaardt 70, Tryon 3/32. India beat SA in the Final with superior bowling Deepti 5/39, Shafali 87. The specific tactical dimension that swung between matches was India’s bowling. In the group stage, India’s bowling was inconsistent (SA chased 251 comfortably). In the Final, Deepti 5/39 after Wolvaardt’s century was the exact correction. India improved their bowling in 6 weeks. SA could not repeat their group-stage chase performance when the stakes were highest.
5 Defining Moments in the India Women vs SA Women Rivalry
FAQs
Q1: What is India Women’s head-to-head record against South Africa Women?
Ans. As of May 2026: ODIs — India leads 20-13 (34 matches, 1 NR). Women’s ODI World Cup — equal at 3-3 (India won 2025 Final by 52 runs; SA won 2025 group stage and 2022 WC match). Women’s Test (2024 only) — India won by 10 wickets (603/6 declared). T20Is — competitive; SA won the 2026 bilateral T20I series 3-1.
Q2: What was the result of the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 Final between India and South Africa?
Ans. India beat South Africa by 52 runs in the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 Final at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on November 2, 2025. India scored 298/7 (Shafali Verma 87 off 78 balls, Deepti Sharma 58). SA were bowled out for 246 (Laura Wolvaardt 101; Deepti Sharma 5/39, Sneh Rana 2 wickets). India won their maiden Women’s ODI World Cup title.
Q3: What happened in the India vs South Africa Women’s World Cup 2025 group stage match?
Ans. SA beat India by 3 wickets in the Women’s ODI WC 2025 group stage match at Visakhapatnam on October 9, 2025. India scored 251 all out (Richa Ghosh 94 off 77 balls; Chloe Tryon 3/32). SA chased 252 in 48.5 overs — Nadine de Klerk 84* (unbeaten), Laura Wolvaardt 70, Sneh Rana 2/47. SA won with 7 balls remaining.
Q4: What was the result of the India Women’s tour of South Africa 2026 T20I series?
Ans. SA beat India 3-1 in the 5-match T20I series (April 17–27, 2026). SA won Match 1 (SA 158/4 chased India 157/7, SA won 6 wkts, Durban), Match 2 (SA 148/2 chased India 147, SA won 8 wkts, Durban), and Match 3 (SA 193/1 chased India 192/4, SA won 9 wkts, Johannesburg). India won Match 4 (India 185/5 beat SA 171/9 by 14 runs, Johannesburg). SA won Match 5 (Benoni, SA won by 23 runs).
Q5: What was Deepti Sharma’s performance in the 2025 Women’s World Cup Final?
Ans. Deepti Sharma scored 58 runs batting in the middle order, then bowled 10 overs taking 5 wickets for 39 runs — including the key wicket of SA captain Laura Wolvaardt (101). Deepti’s 5/39 is the first 5-wicket haul in a Women’s ODI World Cup Final. Her all-round contribution (58 runs + 5 wickets) makes it one of the greatest individual performances in Women’s World Cup Final history.
Q6: When did India Women first play South Africa Women?
Ans. India Women and South Africa Women first played against each other in 1997 — six years after SA’s readmission to international cricket (1991). Since then, they have played 34 ODIs (India leads 20-13, 1 NR) and 20+ T20Is. Their first Women’s Test was played in June 2024 at Chennai (India won by 10 wickets, India 603/6 declared).
