Record breaking India shock Australia to reach Women’s World Cup Final

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Amanjot core then on strike to Molyneux. Two runs needed to get through to the final on Sunday. She backs away.

She cuts away the ball for 4 runs.

Elation for India. Rodriguez is on the floor. The Indian team are running out to the middle to celebrate. Navi Mumbai erupts because India have pulled off the highest successful run chase in women's one day international cricket and they're through to the final on Sunday. Up against South Africa. They have beaten the seven time champions and favorites for the competition, Australia and Harman Preet Kaur, the Indian captain in tears been surrounded by the Indian coaching staff. Jamima Rodrigues is on her knees being held up by her teammates and the scenes here in Navi Mumbai really quite miraculous for India. They win by five wickets against Australia.

I mean just lost for words. It's just very hard to describe what we are seeing, what we are witnessing here to to achieve what they have achieved. Chasing 339, Rodrigues completely In tears. She doesn't understand what she has done yet. She will take a couple of days to realize what she has achieved and what an inning she has played. But this is one of the best innings you'll ever see in cricket period. Chasing 339 and being knocked out at the other end. This is just ridiculous cricket from India.

You know Stephen Fin we, we thought we knew this was a good batting surface so a chase like this was never impossible. But Australia are a formidable force. They have those titles behind them. They have that almost legacy of getting through to finals and making it count, winning these knockout games. And for India, we, we discussed them being the underdogs going into this, this contest here today, but actually it almost feels if they've taken that within their stride and just gone, we have the chance here to, to make history and cause almost in some ways a bit of an upset.

Well, it's a dangerous, liberating mindset to find and I think they did that really well in the second half of the game. I'm sure at half time there would have been a few conversations in the dressing room that said this is going to be a really tough task. But the way that Rodriguez played in particular was outstanding. The way that she held everything together, she was given her chances. And Australia will be sat on the flip side in their dressing room ruing the two drop catches. Healey and then McGrath, two very experienced players. To put those catches down under that pressure in those circumstances has probably led to being in the position that they are now. But forget what Australia didn't do. I think you just have to take a huge nod towards the way that India have chased those runs down and yeah, what an amazing game of cricket.

And the two semi finals in this World cup have just been entirely defined by two fantastic innings from Laura Wolvert for South Africa and from Jamima Rodriguez for India, who's on her feet now and continues to be embraced by her teammates and blowing kisses to the crowd. I think it's not going to sink in for quite a while about what she's achieved, but certainly that innings from her finishing 127not out of 134 balls. A really crucial comp contribution as well from Indian captain Harman preet. Core with 89 off 88 and Richard G as well, 26 off 16. Abhishek, before I hand over to Nikesh, I mean India haven't had a smooth sailing experience in this World cup because of course they had that almost risky performance against Sri Lanka in their opening game, scraped through to the knockout stages and it's felt as if they've been saving their best performance until when it really, really counted and albeit still hasn't been their perfect performance. There was mistakes in the field, there was slight sloppiness in that first innings for you. Do you see, this is an India side who on Sunday when they're up against South Africa will be able to lift that trophy. Your thoughts and then Nikesh?

Oh, absolutely. I think if you, if you win a game like this doesn't matter what sort of a performance you have had throughout the tournament. They have had those three back to back losses and after that somehow scraped through to the semi final. But when you play cricket like this against the best side in the history of the game for women cricket and you win chasing the highest ever total that has ever been chased in in a World cup, you've got to go as favorites when it comes to the final. What an achievement from India. And again we have spoken a lot about Rodrigues but I think we should not forget the innings from Herman Pet go the the pressure to took off from Rodrigues and then Deepti Sharma's 24 and Richa goes 26 were equally important for India to cross the line.

So India have beaten Australia here chasing down 339 to make their passage into Sunday's World cup final to take on South Africa. An extraordinary run chase, the highest in women's ODI history. Emotional scenes out in the middle in Navi Mumbai with Jamima Rodrigues as we mentioned, unbeaten on 127. The linchpin, really the glue that held the Indian effort together. Brilliant contributions from Harman Preeth Kaur making 89 from 88. Smriti Mandana didn't quite manage to go on. She was snuffled down the leg side making 24 at the top of the order. Dipti Sharma came in and played a good knock. 24 from 17 before unfortunately being run out. Richard Gosch came in, smashed a few big shots in her effort as well. 26 from just 16 balls. And then Amanjot Kaur helping India get over the line with an unbeaten 15 from just eight balls. Two crucial boundaries for her in that innings too in India in the end doing it with nine balls to spare. An absolutely superhuman effort against the seven times champions. The the huge favorites to win this competition. And well, we're going to see a new winner, Rabbi Shek on Sunday.

Oh absolutely. And also I just feel that this is going to take Indian women cricket to great heights. A win like this, the whole country is going to celebrate. They're going to inspire millions of young girls to go out there and take up the sport which is already growing at a rapid speed.

We have witnessed an all time class.

Here and for the player of the.

Match, it's one of the best in World cup history. The BCCI President, Mr. Mithun Manas will present today's player of the match award to India's Jamima Rodrigues.

Thank you.

All the best.

Jamima Rodriguez just getting her medal there.

107 not out about 34 balls as she takes India to the World cup final. Jemmy, it's the stuff of dreams. I can imagine there's a lot of emotion in you right now. What are your first thoughts?

Firstly, I want to thank Jesus because I couldn't do this on my own. I know he carried me through today. I want to thank my mom, my dad, my coach and every single person who just believed in me throughout this time. It was really hard these last whole month but it just feels like a dream and it's not sunken yet.

Take your time, Jemmy. We'll get through this. You have played an absolute all time. Classic knock. Your team is here. I want you to just try and take us through the innings itself. So much emotion. But you also batted three. At what point were you told you're going to be batting 3? To process 3. That the emotion of the stage, take us through that.

I actually didn't know I was batting at three. I was still at five. I was taking a shower and then the discussion was happening so I just told them, let me know. So just before entering in, before like I think five minutes before entering in, I got to know I'm batting at 3. But I didn't think about me. It was not for me to prove a point. It was just for me to win this match for India because we've always lost in crunch situations and I just wanted to be there till the end to take us through.

I saw that in your hundred celebration as well, or rather your non celebration. You were just focused on getting India over the line.

Yeah. Today was not about my 50 or my 100. Today was about making India win. I know I got a few chances but I just feel that God scripted everything and at the right time, when you do things with the right intention, he always blesses. And I just felt everything that happened so far was just a set up for this.

You make your own luck. I won't talk about the opportunities. Yes, they were there. But take us through the emotion of what you've just said. It is your first World cup but it's not been an easy World Cup. In and out of the side. Back at number three today, a different balance as well. How did you deal with all those emotions and what came out today?

Yeah, firstly last year I was dropped from this World Cup. This year I came in, I thought okay, I'll try and I was in good form, let's take it more. But things back to back just kept happening and I couldn't Control anything. I had such amazing people around me who believed in me. I've almost cried every day throughout this tour. I was not doing well mentally, going through a lot of anxiety. Then being dropped was another challenge for me. But I think all I had to do was show up and God just took everything care of everything.

You're so brave and you're an inspiration for just speaking about it so openly. Jemmy. Through the innings though, you keep talking to yourself. You almost motivate yourself. There's a lot of messages to the crowd as well. Just take me through what you keep telling yourself through and things like that.

Yeah, I think initially I was just playing. I was doing. I just keep talking to myself. But towards the end I was just quoting one scripture from the Bible because I had lost energy. I was very tired, I was drained. But one scripture that says, just stand still and God will fight for you. And that's what I did. I just stood there and he fought for me.

Can you. I know it's only been a few minutes, but can you try and put to words what you felt when that winning moment was finally played?

I think there was just a lot inside of me left. It was really hard, but I just tried to stay calm till the ball finishes. And at the end, just seeing that India win by five wickets, I think I couldn't stop myself.

What were you telling the new batters? Because India have also fallen short when they've been ahead in chases. So it was important. All that hard work leads to the result. Were you communicating with Amanjot and Richa before that?

So when Haridhi came, all we spoke were one good partnership. We just stand, runs are coming. But towards the end, actually, if you would have seen, I was not able to. I was trying to push myself. I'm not able to do. I told Dipti, Dipti keeps speaking to me. Dipti, every ball was speaking to me and encouraging me. Then Dicha came. She started lifting me up. So you know, I am so blessed that I have when I cannot carry on. My teammates encouraged me to carry on and I can't take credit for anything of this. I know I've done nothing.

A word for your home crowd that I'm sure kept you encouraged.

Navi. Mumbai has always been special for me and I couldn't ask for anything better. I would like to thank each and every member who chanted, who shouted, who believed, who cheered every single time, even when I was down and out. But for every run they were cheering. It pumped me up. So thank you for everyone who came in large numbers and everyone who supported Jemmy.

We need to thank you for witnessing that innings. Jamima. Ivan Rodrigues, in your first World cup, you've taken India to the World cup final. Well done.

Thank you.

Jamima Rodrigues. Then, no surprise to be named player of the match for that unbeaten 127. Nikesh Regani still alongside Abhishek Junjunwala and Stephen Finn here and Finney. We've seen the crowds inside the DY battle this evening. Nearly 35,000 people inside the stadium. India, the home side, through to the final. We saw lots of young children, didn't we, in. In the crowd, Lots of young girls in particular. I mean, India getting to the final. What do you think that will do for women's cricket, not just in India, but around the world as well, with the money that India has the potential to generate and the sponsorship that they're able to bring with things like TV rights and, you know, so on. And what if they go on and win it?

Well, yeah, it's going to be monumental, isn't it? And, yeah, look at the development of the WPL and the way that the game has been pushed forward as a result of that. This is another step on that ladder. I think when you look at the men's game and the inception of the IPL and the amount of cricket that India play in order to generate that revenue for the world game has pushed it forward. And this is exactly the same thing happening in front of our eyes. But I think that the growth in this will be even more steep than that on the men's side of things. So it's. It's amazing, it's inspiring, it's incredible. The pace at which the. The women's game is moving forward. And it can only be a good thing.

Yeah, I think so. I think you're absolutely spot on. I think at the pace which, with the women's cricket is growing, it's unbelievable. And if you go to India and you see the girls who are going to play, and they now started playing, playing on the streets as well with the boys, which never used to happen when we used to grow up. When we were growing up, our sisters were not allowed to go and play on the road. Now you see so many girls want to play with the boys in the local areas, in the local streets, because they all aspire. They want to be Jamima Rodriguez, they want to be Aditi Sharma, they want to become one of those cricketers. And there is a proper career now for these girls to go and Play the wpl. So I think if India goes on to win this World cup, this will change the whole, I think in general this will change women cricket. In terms of the commercial aspect, the game is growing at a rapid pace worldwide, but I think commercial aspect could change very, very drastically for everyone.

And it's the visibility as well, isn't it? It's people being able to see what they want to aspire to be and having the stage to be able to do this in front of the people live in the ground and through the broadcast. And people are listening to it through us. The ability that these women have to inspire the next generation is something that will come grow at an absolutely rapid pace as well.

Absolutely. And with regards to this tournament in particular, then India through to the final to face South Africa, both of these sides, and we'll look ahead to the final in just a moment. Both of these sides peaking, it seems at the right time. India have, have sort of scraped through to the semi finals after, you know, consecutive defeats after winning their first couple of games and, and things were looking a bit iffy going to those last few games, but they've managed to get over the line and they've now beaten the world champions. They're now up against South Africa who themselves got off to a terrible start. 69 all out against England, then went on a run of winning their next five games. Two sides in peak form going head to head. I mean Australia had their chances, didn't they today? Let's, let's be honest about that. India rode their luck with the bat. There were drop chances, there were missed run out opportunities, but you've got to take your luck in these big games and that's what India have done today. And they've not been able to do that previously. They've so many times fallen at the final hurdle or the semi final hurdle against teams like Australia because the pressure has got too much. They seem like a new side here. This is new India, isn't it?

It's new India and I think we talk about the development of the, of the game, the fact that India have been able to shuffle and chop and change their team a little bit, not be affected by people being injured as much as maybe it would have done before. And I think that that is as a result of the amount of exposure that the WPL and things like that has given the people that are underneath that top international level, which I think pushes the people in the team to always strive to get better, which is a very healthy position to be in. But certainly Coming to this stage of the tournament having just won a game like that will give India so much confidence because I think it's fair to say if there was a win predicted, they would have India down in the 15, 20% maybe at the halfway stage. And that's without the historical context of Australia having won so many of those kinds of battles. So for them to have done it and done it in the manner with which they did is mighty impressive and something that will give them heart going into the final. But it has to be remembered how well South Africa played in their semi final. I think we're in three cracker.

Absolutely. And new champions we're going to see on Sunday as well because only three sides have ever won the Women's ODI World Cup. New Zealand have won it once and pretty much the rest of the time it's been England or Australia. Australia have won seven titles, England have won four. It's been a bit of a close shot, the women's game as well. What do you think this will do now to. To a broader audience who are so used to seeing England or Australia battling it out for the these World Cups. We've now got a final with neither of them involved.

Yeah, absolutely. I think, see, you need, you need that in any sport. You need new champions all the time to get more and more people involved, more countries involved and that's how the sport grows. And now one of we'll have a new champion who it'll be. We'll have to wait till Sunday. Will it be India or South Africa? Both are in terrific form as you mentioned. They're both peing at the right time, but I just feel that because India won a game like this and the confidence they're going to carry in South. I'm not saying South Africa is not carrying the confidence. They beat England brilliantly as well. But the way India played this game and the way they won against seven time world champions, that should give them so much confidence going into. And also the home, home, home advantage is always there. They're going to play in the Same Stadium in DY Partel with the 35000 people, probably more people trying to get in now with India being in the final and cheering, every single delivery being bold, every single ball being faced by the Indian batters. It's going to be a difficult one.

For South Africa, more people trying to get in. It kind of reminds me of the old days at stadiums like Eden Gardens with the concrete benches where the official capacity might be 100,000. You probably get 200,000 in not going to happen. Here at the BBC we go further so you see clearer. Through frontline reporting, global stories and local insights, we bring you closer to the world's news as it happens. And it starts with a subscription to BBC.com, giving you unlimited articles and videos ad free podcasts, the BBC News channel streaming live 24. 7 plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries. Subscribe to trusted independent journalism and storytelling from the BBC. Find out more@BBC.com join. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. Right, let's head now to the presentation. Mel Jones is in place and first we're going to hear from Australian captain.

Elissa here look at Australia and India over probably the last two years or so. It feels as if you two sides just bring out the best each other and push each other right to the limit each and every single time.

Yeah, I mean, good contest in the end. I think probably reflecting on that, we did that to ourselves a little bit. It's probably the first time that I felt like we've done that, so. So we didn't, probably didn't finish off with the bat, didn't bowl that great and dropped all the chances in the field and still hung in there till the second last over. So I mean we can take something out of that but ultimately outdone in the end.

Let's start with the runs on the board. 3, 3, 8. In this year alone there's been 22, 300 plus scores. It feels as if it's almost not enough these days against sides whether, you know, sitting or chasing. When you got that three, three, eight, what was the thoughts then?

Yeah, I thought, you know, we half, half done the job. I thought we probably left a few out there at the back end, fell away a little bit in the last 10. But in saying that 3:30, still a good wicket. I thought if we could execute with the ball, hold on to our chances that we were well, well in the game, we just weren't able to capitalise on that. But is what it is. I thought India played really well, held their nerve quite, quite well right throughout that innings and ultimately got them some themselves over the line.

Speaking of holding your nerve, you've got someone like Phoebe Litchfield, still relatively new into her career and she walks out in a semi final like this and you watch her play. Is there sort of moments where you think you're seeing just that the next generation of Australia play and almost a player that has shifted the game forward a little bit in terms of batting?

Oh yeah. I mean, when you're seeing players my age walk away from the game, it's kind of a weird experience for me to sort of stand there and watch and watch the, the next generation go about it. We saw it out there with India bat in hand as well. But thought feeds was sensational today. Set us off, you know, really nicely in that front front end and then was able to cash in with 100, which I thought was really crucial. So kudos to her. It's, it's been fun to watch her unfold and I think, you know, the next four years leading into the next ODI World cup is going to be really exciting to watch.

The other change in batting I think is sort of that number six, number seven position. I think Ash Gardner has come completely owned it. This World cup. You don't get someone who hits 300 plus runs batting at 6 or lower as well. So you sort of got, you know, the top and the middle well sorted.

Yeah, I think there's going to be more and more opportunities for those guys moving forward. Like I said, the next four years of this cycle leading into the next World cup, you know, it could see a little bit of change and I think that's going to be really exciting for our group and seeing these young players get more opportunity. So thought Ash had a sensational tournament and yeah, I think everyone contributed beautifully throughout this tournament. That's why it's probably really disappointing to be standing here right now.

How stretched were you as a captain today in the field?

Yeah, Stretch. I think we created enough, we created pressure, we created opportunities, we just weren't able to capitalise and you know, I'm at fault of that as well and I think that's something that Australia really prides themselves on and we kind of let ourselves down in that regard today. So that's probably why it's disappointing. Felt felt a little bit similar this time last year. Sort of going out playing, you know, not the way that we wanted to play. So we'll learn from that, we'll grow and I think our one day cricket will hopefully improve.

Since it's always tough to summarise a World cup when you go out in the semi, but when you look at the whole campaign, how do you sort of, you know, put in a sentence or two how this team has played?

I think we've played some unbelievable cricket and you know, ultimately, like we've been saying the whole time, the semi final is a knockout game. If you, if you don't quite turn up on that evening, you know, anyone's Going to get you the top four teams or the top four teams for a reason. So there was so much to be proud of this World Cup. I'm really proud of our group and every single player's contribution. I think somebody came in every game and got a job done for us. So I think that's really cool. Yeah, that's probably why it stings a little bit more having this conversation with you right now, knowing that we are playing really good cricket, but we just weren't able to get over that hurdle.

I'm certainly not retiring anyone off from the Australian team, but it's probably fair to say that a few you won't be travelling around for the next World cup in four years time as well.

I won't be there, Matt.

There you go. Okay, so how do you balance that conversation? In a room of disappointment now, but the excitement of the new players coming through and potentially some retirements as well.

I think that's, that's the beauty of this next cycle. We're going to see that unfold. Obviously there's a T20 World cup middle of next year which is going to be really exciting for our group as well. But I think the one day, our one day cricket is going to probably going to shift a little bit again. We'll learn from what we did wrong tonight. I thought we did so much right throughout this World Cup. We'll learn from that. We'll grow, we'll get better. And like I said, the opportunity for potentially some young players to get, you know, greater opportunities in this side is a really exciting thing for Australian cricket.

Yeah, well, Australia set the bar higher and higher each and every year and it's allowed teams to chase you and pick up wins like this. So thank you for your contribution to an amazing tournament and we'll see time you next next time.

Thanks, Bill.

Cheers.

Thank you.

Elisa Healy. And then I've got the pleasure of inviting in Harman Preetkaur, the captain of India. I'm going to start with there's not a dry eye here. It's probably not a dry eye in India at the moment. How proud are you of this team?

Yeah, I'm absolutely very proud. I don't have words how to express myself, but feeling great this time. We have power. That line which we have been, you know, working hard for so many years. So yeah, it's an amazing feeling.

I can't believe this. I was expecting a harm, a prik Khur, you know, absolutely beaming. You've just knocked off the seven time World cup champions. The Current World cup champions. You're into a semi final of a magnificent display. What was the first thing that you turned to and you spoke to your coach? I saw you were very, very close to him then. What was the first thing that he said to you and you said to him?

Well, we spoke to each other that you know we have done this because we have been working so hard and both of us really proud of this team and we have that trust that each and every player that you know this, every player can win any match anytime in any situation. And we made few mistakes in this, in this tournament but end of the day we have been learning from our mistakes and today was the day where we wanted to go everything in our favour and in every situation. We were working hard. We were just keep telling ourselves just be there, be there for the team. And I think that thing really worked for us.

Talk us through how you just refocused the team too because you spoke about the mistakes. You lost three on the trot and one of those was against England where you were in a very similar situation as you were tonight needing 50 off 50 with wickets in hand. How did you before, before we get to that point of that run chase tonight, how did you just keep everyone focused on the plan for India coming into the semi?

Yeah, that day we had realized that we didn't execute ourselves really well, especially in the last five over. We were late by two or three overs. We could have taken a bit more risk few overs earlier but I think that really cost us and that what we all discussed in the team room that we had to really be calculative because once you are, you know, out of the game, you it's very hard to come back because I know it's a 50 over game, you have a lot of chances to keep coming back if you making mistakes. But last five over something where you have to be very particular, you know, you have to be very calculative. I think we all spoke, we all, we all knew that you know what we had to do. If we again come in again in same situation and today with the same thing. We wanted to finish this before 50th over and that exactly happen.

You also spoke about the in players taking responsibility and accountability for their position out there and kicking on. I think it's fair to say anyone who watched tonight and saw Jemi Rodriguez innings in at number three, she hasn't batted there too often. That was one of the special innings in Munda internationals.

Yeah, definitely. Jemima is someone who always want to do really well for the team because she's someone, you know, always very calculative and wants to take the responsibility and we always have that trust on her. And today was a very special knock from her and we both of us had a very good time on the pitch. Whenever we are batting, we were just complimenting each other and calculating and she was doing all the calculation there for me and I think that was something. She's always in the game and I really enjoy batting with her.

So she's the mathematician out there doing all the hard work.

She's someone, you know, who before I, I go she's always keep telling me, oh, we, we got five runs, we got seven runs now, two more goal left. So before I, I say anything, she's already saying me, saying it to me. So I think that shows how involved she is and I was just so amazed to see, you know, what she was thinking and how she was even pushing myself. So I think we should give lots of credit to her the way, you know, she, she kept her nerves, they are like hold, hold her nerves and know, keep batting for the team.

I couldn't chat to you post the semi final win and not talk about just history repeating itself, isn't it? Back in 2017 you did it against Australia there at Derby. You've done it again today. But you just want to change the next result now, don't you?

Yeah, definitely. Now one more game to go and today is, you know, we all played well. We are really happy with the result now already we have started split speaking about our next game. So I think that shows how focused we are and how we are keen to win this World cup because playing in home condition is very special to us and we just want to give it to our fans, to our families who have been praying for us for so many years. I think this is a great time for us to deliver for our fans and family and hopefully one more game to go and we'll keep giving our best.

An electric crowd tonight. They were heaving right from the start. They were right behind you and you can expect that on Sunday as well, can't you?

Yeah, definitely. We are not playing alone. They are always with us and we are so proud that every, every game they are coming and you know, pushing us and I think they've been amazing. Even though when we lost we were keep getting messages that this World cup is not end. You guys are amazing and you can change the result any, any day, anytime. And I think that that really shows how involved even they are with us. So I think we Are not alone entire countries with us.

Well, I can see the internal battle at the moment. I know you really want to celebrate this, so celebrate that well. But know that you've got a World cup final coming up in a couple of days time. Congratulations.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

So that was Mel Jones with the two captains there, Alyssa Healey and the victorious Harman Preet Core who is visibly emotional there. Melissa Story back in alongside myself, Nikesh Regani and Abhishek Junjunwala. And Melissa, we saw the emotional scenes there from India after that result and what a result it was. Record run chase to beat Australia, the seven time champions in the semi final. Of course it's going to hit these players hard. They've got to recover ahead of Sunday. There's one more match to go against South Africa. They've got a chance here to be champions of the world. India. How do they now prepare for that match in front of another probably capacity crowd at the Dybatil Stadium?

I mean, I think they've got to take time to process what has happened this evening because it has been the unthinkable in terms of toppling these giants of the women's game and take the time to celebrate that. And for Jemi Rodrigues as well, that's probably the peak of her career particularly. But as you say, you then at some point need to go. Right, Right. Well, we've still got one more game to go and this will probably be in their opinion their best chance of, of lifting the World cup because I don't think anyone would have thought what we would be seeing an India South Africa final. From the start of the competition, it's almost been pinned in that Australia would be there in the final. So it's this reassessment and actually when India and South Africa played each other in the group stages, South Africa came out on top of the was a thrilling game with Nadine de Clerk getting South Africa over the line. They also need to deal with the baggage of that because as we saw with the England South Africa semi final where England completely rattled through South Africa in the group stages and then South Africa repaid them in the knockout game. You, you've got to shake off any preconceptions, any baggage you have and go into that final with a fresh mindset.

Absolutely. We mentioned Nadine the Clerk there. They've got some other gunplay players in that lineup. South Africa, Laura Wolvart making 169 in that match against England. Marisan Cap now the record wicket taker in Women's World Cups with 44 overtaking Julan Goswami. They've got some brilliant, brilliant players scattered through the side. Chloe Tryon in the middle order. I mean, what a dangerous player. She can be an all round player. So India know what South Africa's threats are. Do you still see India as favorite?

I think so. I think so given the home condition. And also the biggest question mark with Indian cricket has been they don't know how to cross the line under pressure situations. They just crumble under pressure in these moments when it comes to the semi final or the big, big situations. And they have managed to somehow get over that. And this should give them a lot of confidence going into the final. And home conditions always make a massive difference. They are playing exactly where they played this game. They've had two really good wins in Dy Partle, first with New Zealand getting over 300 and now chasing the highest ever total in the history of the World cup in women's cricket. So I think they should be the favorite. They will be the favorite. Not should be the favorite, they will be the favorites. But again, it boils down to how you perform on the day. It's a, it's a World cup final. Who can take the pressure better, who can come out there and, you know, perform on that day? That's exactly what Alisa Hebey said as well.

Melissa, final word from you. 1.5 billion Indians will be willing them on 35,000 people in the stadium. Can India handle that type of pressure in that situation on Sunday?

I think they can because the crowd tonight felt like an extra player for India. So if they can take that momentum and that noise with them, it's going to be really tough for these South African players dealing with their own final pressure to contend with that noise and support for India. So we've got a side who in India I think have peaked at exactly the right time. And we still, despite the records broken in the semi final, have not had a perfect performance that's threatening up against South Africa who are probably one of the scrappiest sides and won't go down without a fight. So, I mean, there's so much to look forward to in this final.

All set up for a brilliant final on Sunday. My thanks to Melissa Storey, to Abhishek Junjunwala, to Stephen Finn, to Alice Davidson Richards and from myself, Nika Shrighani, thank you very much for listening to our coverage here from Navi Mumbai. We'll of course have full ball by ball commentary for you of India versus South Africa that Women's World cup final on Sunday live from 9.15am UK time time across the BBC on BBC sounds on BBC 5, sports extra across the ABC and the ICC app and website as well. But for now, thanks very much for listening and goodbye. You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. At the BBC, we go further so you see clearer through frontline reporting, global stories and local insights, we bring you closer to the world's news as it happens. And it starts with a subscription to BBC.com giving you unlimited articles and videos ad free podcasts, the BBC News channel streaming live 24. 7 plus hundreds of acclaimed documentaries. Subscribe to trusted independent journalism and storytelling from the BBC. Find out more@BBC.com join.