India take crown in dominating fashion

India Under-19 National Women’s Team claimed the crown of the inaugural U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in a comprehensive manner as they beat England by seven wickets in the final at Potchefstroom on Sunday.

It was the Indian bowlers who almost put a hand on the title as they bowled England, who were batting first, for just 68 runs.

In reply, India lost a couple of wickets early but were never in trouble as they claimed the title with ease.

“This is a moment we’ve waited for very long. We have a very good future,” India head coach Nooshin Al Khadeer said after the match.

“It’s really surreal because all of us have been looking forward to this day for a long time now,” player of the match Titas Sadhu, who picked up two wickets giving away just six runs in four overs, said after the match.

“All the girls are incredible, the way they are performing, backing themselves,” India skipper Shafali Verma said.

“Obviously we’re gutted with the way it went today. Our batting let us down, we’ve been so strong through this tournament. All these girls are unbelievable and I love captaining this side,” England skipper Grace Scrivens, who was expectedly disappointed despite her player of the tournament award, said.

Winning the toss, India skipper Shafali opted to field first and her decision paid dividends very early as England lost Liberty Heap (0) to Sadhu in the first over before Niamh Holland (10) and Scrivens (4) were dismissed in the same over by Archana Devi.

Sadhu struck again in the first over after the powerplay as she got rid of Seren Smale for 3, which was followed by Charis Pavely’s (2) dismissal in the 10th over.

Small contributions from Ryana MacDonald-Gay (19), Alexa Stonehouse (11), and Sophia Smale (11) could only take the English total to 68, their lowest batting first in the tournament.

In reply, Hannah Baker struck in the third over to get Shafali (15) before Scrivens got Shweta Sehrawat (5) to bring some hope for England.

But a 46-run partnership between Soumya Tiwari and Gongadi Trisha ensured that there were no jitters in the small chase. Trisha, trying to end things with a boundary, was bowled in the 13th over by Stonehouse for 24 off 29 balls.

However, Tiwari, who stayed unbeaten on 24, took India to the crown of the inaugural tournament with six overs in hand.