NAVI MUMBAI, India (Reuters) -India's agonising wait for a maiden Women's World Cup title finally came to an end as Harmanpreet Kaur and her teary-eyed teammates clinched the trophy by beating South Africa in a dramatic final at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday.
Their 52-run victory before a full house was the perfect culmination of a campaign, which was nearly derailed after three defeats in a row, including one against South Africa, in the league phase.
Kaur's team pulled off a record chase in their semi-final against defending champions Australia to reach the final against a South Africa side also gunning for their maiden 50-over World Cup title.
India found an unlikely hero in opener Shafali Verma, whose whirlwind 87 was key to their total of 298-7 even though 350 looked within their reach at one stage.
Verma also had a golden arm, claiming two quick wickets that turned the match on its head after South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt (101) led their robust reply with her second successive hundred of the tournament.
Verma walked away with the player-of-the-match award in the final of a tournament where she was drafted in only before the knockout stage as a late injury replacement.
Deepti Sharma was equally impressive, smashing a run-a-ball 58 and following it with figures of 5-39.
The 28-year-old finished the World Cup with 22 wickets and 215 runs, which earned her the player-of-the-tournament award.
Wolvaardt kept South Africa, who were all out for 246 in the 46th over, in the chase but once she holed out in the deep, India took charge of the contest.
India opener Smriti Mandhana, their leading scorer in the tournament, summed up the feeling in their camp after they clinched victory following two previous final defeats.
"It's still sinking in. I haven't been emotional on a cricket field but just an unreal night," she said battling tears.
"To be the champions, I'm not able to process it.
"Every World Cup we go in, there have been so many heartbreaks but we always believe we have a responsibility with women's cricket and to see the last month and a half and the way we've been supported... I will take that 45 days of not sleeping every night."
Wolvaardt finished as the tournament's leading scorer but found little joy in personal milestones.
"I couldn't be prouder of this team for the campaign that we've had," the opener said.
"We've played some brilliant cricket throughout but we were outplayed today, India played fantastically well.
"We had a lot of different players stepping up, it was an amazing tournament for a lot of players. I'm just proud of the resilience we showed to get to the final."
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Toby Davis)
