LUCKNOW/AGRA, Nov. 3 -- When former India cricketer Hemlata Kala first saw a seemingly frail, under-ten "boy" unleash a lightning throw from the boundary to hit the stumps dead-centre at Agra's Eklavya Sports Stadium, she was stunned.

On being told that the prodigy was, in fact, a girl - Deepti, the younger sister of local cricketer Sumit Sharma - Hemlata instinctively remarked, "Take care of your sister, she has cricket in her." Decades later, those words ring prophetic. That little girl, Deepti Sharma from Agra, is now India's World Cup-winning hero.

On Sunday night in Navi Mumbai, 28-year-old Deepti produced a performance for the ages - scoring a composed run-a-ball 58 and taking five wickets for 39 runs - as India defeated South Afr...