ICC Women's Cricket World Cup final: India and South Africa prepare for potentially game-changing contest

For the first time in 25 years, a new name will be inscribed on the Women's World Cup trophy as India and South Africa meet in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

Not only is this symbolic of the growth and development of the game, but it is also a mouth-watering prospect considering the seismic impact it will have for whoever is triumphant.

South Africa are cricket's perennial 'nearly' team and while their men's team broke their duck earlier this year with a World Test Championship win, for Laura Wolvaardt's side it has been a tale of near misses.

The spine-tingling moment of a full Cape Town crowd singing the national anthem at the T20 World Cup final in 2023 was so emotional that it almost eclipsed their eventual defeat by Australia, but the following year's loss to New Zealand in the final was the one that got away.

India, meanwhile, are women's cricket's potential game-changers.

They have also had their close calls, most significantly the nine-run defeat by England at Lord's in 2017, and ever since there has been a lingering sense that it was only a matter of when, and not if, the team including generational talents in Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma would get their hands on a trophy.

Outside the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday, still 24 hours away from the first ball being bowled, there were crowds of people gathered outside the gates, screaming and desperate to catch a glimpse of the team training and to scramble for last-minute tickets.

There is a record amount of prize money on offer to the winner (£3.3m), which would go a long way for South African cricket which is reaching finals in spite of its under-resourced domestic system.

For India, it is arguably less about the money and more about the shift in reach, attention and opportunity.

Regardless of the result, history beckons - but it is an India win on home soil which could signify a change in the world order.

It is not hyperbolic to say that lives will be changed by this World Cup final.

Both teams - countries where opportunities for women and girls in sport are far less accessible or accepted than the likes of England or Australia - are littered with stories of resilience and overcoming adversity.

There is Shafali Verma, the India opener who cut her hair short so that she could enrol herself as a boy at an academy.

Her team-mate Radha Yadav used her Women's Premier League (WPL) salary to buy her father a grocery store to support the family.

Jemimah Rodrigues, the hero of India's astonishing semi-final against Australia, grew up playing cricket on the streets of Mumbai with her brothers because there were no girls teams for her to play in.

She also waited as a 16-year-old, before her international debut, at Mumbai airport to greet India's 2017 finalists. Now she has her own chance to go one step further.

"What I'd love to come from the end of this World Cup is for girls in India to not have to pretend to be boys to play cricket," Alex Hartley, a World Cup winner in 2017, told the BBC Test Match Special.

"No matter what happens tomorrow, they can just be girls who play cricket rather than having to pretend to be somebody else."

For South Africa, there is Nonkululeko Mlaba. The spinner grew up on a township in KwaZulu-Natal and had to move to accommodation provided by Cricket South Africa to be nearer to their training facilities because of the long and potentially unsafe journeys she would have to take.

Up-and-coming all-rounder Annerie Dercksen spent her childhood on a farm with no access to television, discovering cricket by reading the newspaper.

Opener Tazmin Brits overcame a devastating car crash which ended her Olympic javelin dream, but this year has hit a record five centuries to become a crucial member of the side in its third consecutive ICC final.

They have continually defied the odds and broken down barriers. A World Cup win will not be the end of the issues that women face in terms of access to sport, education or equality but it could go a long way in showing what is possible.

Neither team has had a smooth ride into the final, which makes it a difficult one to call.

South Africa's five consecutive group-stage wins, including a three-wicket thriller against India, were sandwiched by being bowled out for 69 and 97 against England and Australia respectively.

After the latter, they were not favourites to beat England in the semis but responded with one of their most impressive all-round efforts, led by Wolvaardt's unforgettable 169 and the unstoppable Marizanne Kapp's 5-20.

As South Africa's stars, they will be expected to step up again on Sunday.

Where Wolvaardt is unflappable and calm, Kapp is the warrior. Even five World Cups in, she cannot hold back the tears at the national anthem, and looks like she will combust with passion at each wicket she claims.

For India, it will be about whether they can manage the weight of expectation and negotiate the emotions of that staggering semi-final, with skipper Harmanpreet emphasising the importance of being mentally refreshed from it.

"The semi-final was a very high-pressure game and very intense," said the captain.

"We have been talking about how we can be more focused and more balanced and at the same time keeping ourselves relaxed because this is the biggest stage and biggest opportunity for us, playing in a home final.

"But I think the most important thing is that we have to enjoy this because there is nothing bigger than this in our life, as a cricketer and for me as a captain."

India have the edge in terms of home advantage, while they have played three games at the DY Patil in this competition to South Africa's none.

"It's going to be a very tough game, with the whole crowd behind India," said Wolvaardt.

"But at the same time I think it puts a lot of pressure on them as well. They have the whole country behind them and are sort of expected to win.

"I think that plays in our favour, hopefully. We're going to have to play some really good cricket to beat them but we're really excited for the opportunity."

A sell-out is expected, and if the atmosphere can match what was provided in the semi-final, it will be electric.

It worked in their favour against Australia but South Africa will hope to channel their inner Pat Cummins from 2023 - as the Australia captain said, the best thing about a loud crowd is the ability to silence them.

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