India Women’s National Cricket Team vs South Africa Women’s National Cricket Team Timeline

In the last decade, women’s cricket has experienced a colossal rise. From all of the rivalries that have developed, India Women vs South Africa Women have become one of the fiercest, emotional, and discussed rivalries of them all. In the following full in-depth article, we are going to cover the full India Women’s National Cricket Team vs South Africa Women’s National Cricket Team timeline, the growth of both teams, the switch of power, the match-defining moments, the changing dynamics of the rivalry, the head-to-head stats across formats, and of course, one of the most historic results in the rivalry, the ICC Women’s World Cup Final match, which changed the history of Indian women’s cricket.

How This Rivalry Grew in World Cricket

When women’s cricket began to capture mainstream interest, matches between India and South Africa were frequently regarded as “competitive”, but not “historic level rivalry”. Historically, Australia and England had dominated, while the teams from New Zealand typically were also in the mix in the top four. By the middle of the 2010’s, two teams began to rise sharply in ranking, player skill, player production, and international competitiveness: 

• India Women 
• South Africa Women 

Both teams had boards making more investment, more domestic cricket, better contracts for women cricketers to stay in the game after playing, and better T20 leagues to introduce even more new talent.

The South Africa Women team had a pace winning culture through youth cricket; the Indian team had a spin winning culture through depth of batting and spin. And this helped spur a rivalry. 

Over the years, matches became close, series became hard to predict, and knock-out cricket made it a sky-high intensity rivalry.

India Women’s National Cricket Team vs South Africa Women’s National Cricket Team Timeline

1) Early 2000s – India were more stable, South Africa not consistent

In the early 2000s, the Indian Women’s team had a more well-formed side. Although exposure may not have been at a high level, there were more star players and a better ICC record and match finishing ability. The South African squad was still making its core and link squad and struggled with consistency.

2) 2010 – 2016 – South Africa got stronger, India still had spin dominance

At this point, South Africa had begun producing world class seamers and openers. Their fitness and fielding improved at a considerable rate. At this juncture, both teams had begun beating one another more regularly.

3) 2017 World Cup – India became a global finals contender

This is the period when at the 2017 World Cup it was India’s Women who reached the final, defeating heavy hitters such as Australia. From that point on, every team started to view India Women differently. After that, every encounter between India and South Africa Women garnered media recognition.

4) Post 2020 – both teams started defeating big teams home & away

Following the 2020 season both India and South Africa began to play the same kind of cricket. Both started winning series in England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, etc. Both teams began to perform roughly the same in T20 World Cups, ICC tournaments, etc.

5) 2025 Women’s World Cup Final – the biggest match of the rivalry

The rivalry reached its zenith during the ICC Women’s World Cup Final 2025, when India Women dethroned South Africa Women for the trophy. More on this story later in the article.

ICC Women’s World Cup Final – India Women vs South Africa Women

Undoubtedly, this is the most significant chapter in this rivalry. This match is regarded as one of the most emotional and historic finals within the game of women’s cricket.

India was the victor of ICC Women’s World Cup Final against South Africa Women and are the world champions. This moment changed everything about the perception of India Women’s cricket.

• India set a very competitive score.
• South Africa started a strong chase.
• But India’s bowling attack responded under pressure.
• India Women became the victors of the final and made history.

This final is a shift in history. Millions of new fans began following women’s cricket after this match. This result made the rivalry epic.

Because South Africa Women reached the final they also became a globally respected team. The loss made them even more driven to succeed. And this implication will carry into the next ICC events.

Match scorecard:

• INDW: 298/7(50)
• RSAW: 246(45.3)
• Match Result: India Women’s won by 52 runs
• Man of the Match: Shefali Verma
• Player of the Series: Deepti Sharma

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Team India (@indiancricketteam)

Wining Moment

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ICC (@icc)

Why This Timeline Matters for Global Women’s Cricket

It is vitally important to see documenting the India Women’s National Cricket Team vs South Africa Women’s National Cricket Team timeline (keyword used for second time here). The timeline shows the shifts of women’s cricket; earlier there were 2-3 teams dominating, today many teams including India and South Africa are equally dangerous.

This rivalry also shows:

• money investment matters
• domestic structure matters
• opportunities matter
• exposure matters
• The WPL, SA20 women’s and other women’s future leagues will also improve young talent

This rivalry also shows that women’s cricket is entering a new era; What was once a narrative of proud and stoutly contested finals between two national teams that were England/Australia vs all other teams has shifted, now massive global viewership can be attracted with finals of two non England/Australia teams.  This is positive.

India Women vs South Africa Women Head to Head Record

Head to Head in ODI

Head to Head in T20I

Head to Head in Test

Future of This Rivalry

In 3–5 years, we can expect: 

• More high-scoring India vs SA matches 
• More knockout encounter in ICC events 
• More bilateral series in both countries 
• More players becoming global superstars 

South Africa wants revenge for the World Cup final loss. 

India wants to defend their world champion status. 

This rivalry will remain hot, emotional, global and high-intensity. Fans love it because both teams play with heart, passion and fearless attitude.

Final Thoughts

Both India and South Africa Women have formed a fully matured modern cricket rivalry. This timeline reflects on how they have evolved from middle tier teams to title challenging teams. Their matches today in ODI and T20I formats are no longer easy matches – they are world class contests. The ICC Women’s World Cup Final was the key pivot, and will now continue with an ever enhanced emotional level.

Rivalries like this will help grow women’s cricket even quickly. Such rivalry will now be one of the key stories in women’s cricket over the next decade. Fans from all around the globe are eagerly awaiting the next India vs South Africa Women big match.