A crowd of more than 35,000 drowned Australia out of the semifinal of the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 at the D.Y. Patil Stadium a few days ago. Expect nothing different on Sunday when South Africa walks into the venue for the first time in its campaign, in the final against the home team.

“How do you plan to silence the crowd?” a reporter sincerely asked skipper Laura Wolvaardt.

With the sheepiest of chuckles, she shot back: “Hopefully, we win!”

“The whole crowd is behind India, probably a sold-out stadium. It definitely puts a lot of pressure on them as they’re sort of expected to win. I think it plays in our favour a bit,” she said ahead of the summit clash.

Any South African one meets sees the similarities between India and the Proteas, being at the cusp of history. But quickly, a line comes, “South Africa needs it more.”

“(A World Cup win) will be really special for the women’s game back home. We recently got domestic contracts introduced. I can only imagine what something like a World Cup trophy will do back home. Just the number of girls who will be able to see it on TV, and hear that we’re a World Cup-winning nation…”