NEW DELHI: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday said her team has suffered the heartache of defeat several times in the past but is now ready to experience the joy of winning the world title ahead of their Women’s World Cup final against South Africa.India and South Africa clash in a climactic clash at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday, with the Women’s World Cup guaranteed to welcome a new champion to join the ranks of former champions Australia, England and New Zealand.
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“We know what it’s like to lose. But we’re looking forward to what it’s like to win. Hopefully tomorrow will be a special day for us. We’ve done a lot of hard work and it’s just about (doing) everything for the team tomorrow,” Harmanpreet told reporters on the eve of the final.“We’ve talked about how whenever we’ve enjoyed ourselves and played our best, we’ve always had positive results.“It’s a proud moment for me and the whole team and I’m sure the whole country must also be very proud of the way we’ve played in the last two games,” she said.
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This will be India’s third appearance in the Women’s ODI World Cup final. The team lost to Australia by 98 runs in the 1998 title clash and lost to England by nine runs in the 2017 final. India also fell short in the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal match, again against Australia.“When you are at a stage like a World Cup final, there can be no greater motivation. The team is energized, the players are supporting each other and that shows that they are together and how prepared we are for this game. We knew long before that the World Cup is in India and now it is about giving 100 per cent,” Harman said when asked how to motivate her side.Harmanpreet also welcomed that the new ODI World Champion will be crowned on Sunday evening.“It’s good that there are two different teams. We’ve seen Australia dominate world cricket for so many years and England have been on that stage as well. The excitement is different,” she said.
