Sri Lanka, Nov. 3 -- Jubilant India held their nerve under the weight of huge expectation to beat South Africa by 52 runs and clinch a historic first Women's World Cup win.

The showpiece event in front of a raucous, sold-out 45,000 crowd was delayed by two hours because of rain but no overs were lost and a match for the ages played out in Navi Mumbai.

The hosts batted first and posted a competitive 298-7 - opener Shafali Verma led the charge with a dynamic 87 from 78 balls, backed up by Deepti Sharma's 58, which set the Proteas their record one-day international run-chase.

Captain Laura Wolvaardt scored her second successive century, a flawless 101 from 98 balls, which kept South Africa in contention at 211-6 and needing 88 from the fi...