An hour before pushback, China did India a massive favour by beating England 4-2. India seized the opening in Pool-D, by hammering South Africa, the lowest-ranked side in the World Cup, 6-1 to go top of the table on Tuesday.
The result also propelled their goal difference to (+5). India’s front-foot approach yielded three more short corners in succession with defender Sushila Chanu getting her first goal since 2023 from a rebound. Sakshi, the youngest player in the squad at 18, capped off an excellent game by firing into the roof of the net.
It was a historic scoreline here at the Wagener Stadion for the Indian women as they registered their biggest World Cup win, thanks to six different goal-scorers. Sjoerd Marijne’s side now needs only a draw in its final pool game against England to ensure a spot in the second round. India’s nerves seemed to settle with that goal as it found better rhythm with its passing and penetration. In the second quarter, as soon as India got its second penalty corner (PC), Navneet Kaur, who let Deepika have a crack for the first, signalled that it was her turn, and made it count. In the third quarter, the Indians put on a clinic in finishing with three tomahawk efforts in the space of seven minutes. South Africa finished the game better, managing to get on the scoresheet from a well-worked PC with Kayla de Waal deflecting the ball in.
Deepika found the bottom corner before Lalremsiami, who was conferred the Arjuna Award earlier in the day, slotted in from a tight angle on the right side. Needing a victory to progress, the Indian men’s team will be in action on Wednesday against Pakistan.