India against. South Africa: The left-arm spin challenge, seam strengths, and early pyrotechnics

The South African women’s squad achieved its greatest victory to date on October 29, 2025. India Women had what was likely the best day in their cricketing history a day later. Both are still one step away from the final reward, though.

For the first time in nine competitions, Australia and England did not play in the Women’s T20 World Cup final a little more than a year ago. The 2025 ODI World Cup has set a new record, guaranteeing that a new team—either South Africa or India—will win the championship.

India, the hosts, has had a more difficult path than the other team. They were in danger of being eliminated after losing to the eventual semifinalists three times in a row before defeating New Zealand in Navi Mumbai. In the semifinals, defeating seven-time champion Australia would have required an incredible effort, and the hosts answered with a memorable run-chase.

Meanwhile, South Africa has witnessed it all. They suffered devastating batting collapses against Australia (97 all-out) and England (69 all-out) in between their five consecutive league-phase victories. The other four victories, including the semi-final, were resounding, but Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon saved them against India and Bangladesh, respectively.

India has an even more amazing 5-1 record after that devastating loss in the 2022 edition, and they lead 20-13 in head-to-head ODIs. However, India has already witnessed South Africa’s all-around depth earlier in the competition, which evens the playing field before the championship game.

Top-level firepower

Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt (1120 at 74.66) and Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal (1557 at 77.85) are the only two batting couples to ever total 1000+ runs in a calendar year. Both of them did so in 2025. At the other end, Mandhana is familiar with Shafali Varma, whose five-ball stay at the crease in the semifinal suggests a novel, aggressive style, while Pratika has been sidelined by injury.

A 116-run opening partnership helped South Africa prevail in the semi-finals, but the Brits’ recent run of extremes may worry them. In addition to five single-digit scores, including three ducks, her previous 11 ODI innings have included four hundreds, scores of 55* and 45. It is the factor that determines how the two sides differ in terms of the number of opening partnerships and run-rate throughout the tournament’s first ten overs.

South Africa’s seam-bowling prowess is led by Kapp

Pakistan, which only played four games in Colombo under more bowling-friendly conditions, only slightly outperformed South Africa’s seam attack, which is the only one in the championship to have averaged less than five runs per over (ER: 4.66). They have been particularly excellent with the new ball under Marizanne Kapp’s leadership, giving up at a mere 3.81 (pace and spin combined, 3.41 for quicks). The second-worst bowling average in the competition, 4.86, has been recorded by India’s bowlers during this phase.

Kapp has taken 19 wickets in the first 10 overs of ODIs since 2024, the most of any bowler, while keeping an average of 13.89 and an economy of 3.14. He is the only bowler to have reached 130 kmph or more in the tournament thus far. In the semi-final on Wednesday, she upset the England top order. She also has a strong record versus India, taking 24 wickets in as many games while giving up 3.72 runs per game. She also has a fantastic matchup against the batting mainstays of India. Later, more on that.

On the seam-bowling front, India has struggled, and the disparity between the two assaults is concerning when facing more formidable opponents. Because spinners have had trouble at the site under the lights, it could be detrimental to the hosts if they bowl second in the final.

Statistics for seam bowling in games with just the semi-finalists