India search for perfect end in historic Women’s Cricket World Cup final against South Africa

Hosts have golden chance after years of grind against institutional misogyny but epic semi-final makes it a big ask Psalm 30:5 … “Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” That was one of the pieces of scripture Jemimah Rodrigues was reciting to herself as, battling exhaustion, she shepherded her team towards a stunning win against Australia, the reigning champions, in Thursday’s World Cup semi-final. India have wept plenty over the years. They lost to Australia in the 2005 World Cup final, felled by a Karen Rolton hundred. More recently, three of the current team – Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma – will remember the sinking feeling of watching their team choke in a run chase of 229 against England at Lord’s in July 2017.