After defeating England in the championship match at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, the Under-19 Indian Women’s Cricket Team won the inaugural U-19 T20 World Cup. The India team restricted England to 68 in 17.1 overs before coming back to reach the target with 7 wickets left to complete the historic victory in 14 overs.
India vs England – Match Highlights
Batting first, England scored just 68 runs and was dismissed before even playing the full 20 overs as the bowlers put up a flawless performance against a weak English batting unit. Titas Sadhu, an off-spinner, Archana Devi, and Parshavi Chopra, a leg-spinner, all had two wickets each thanks to the accurate line and length bowling.
During the chase, Shafali Verma and Shweta Sehrawat were dismissed early by England’s pacer, making the start worse for the Indian team. It was the partnership of Soumya Tiwari and Gongadi Trisha that got the Women in Blue back on track, as the pair racked up the runs in fourteen overs to secure the victory. In a convincing bowling performance, left-arm spinners Shafali, Mannat Kashyap, and Sonam Yadav each claimed a wicket.
Shweta Sehrawat of India finished with 297 runs in seven matches, averaging 99.00, to lead the competition in batting. Chopra, who had 11 dismissals in six games, was the player with the second-highest number of wickets. Meanwhile, captain Verma became another Under-19 World Cup-winning captain for India, joining a distinguished line of cricketers that includes Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand, and Prithvi Shaw.
The Indian women’s team has been set for a golden path
India’s women’s U-19 cricket team won the first-ever junior T20 women’s World Cup on Sunday, shattering barriers and serving as a sign of things to come. The senior women’s squad has improved steadily over the past 20 years. After finishing second in the 2005 ODI World Cup, they followed on to place second again in the 2017 ODI World Cup and the 2020 T20 World Cup. They needed to locate the spark that would remove the last obstacle standing in their way and now it appears they have finally found it.
The world cup victory has given women’s cricket in India a big boost ahead of the Women’s Premier League, which will start in March. The sport was already poised to take off and only needed the right launchpad. Several retired players reconsidered their decision to hang up their boots after learning about the new franchises and money involved, but for the under-19s, it marked the opening of a door that holds plenty of promise for the future.
Although the cricket board promised equal pay for male and female cricketers, the latter’s career choice had not been without difficulties up to this point. But now that they have the world cup triumph under their belts and a dedicated premier league to look forward to, the Indian Women’s team has a new horizon to explore. Following their victory over England,
BCCI secretary Jay announced a financial prize of Rs 5 crore for the U19 women’s cricket team and support crew. Shah posted a tweet on Monday, saying that the young Indian cricketers have made the nation proud and we shall appreciate their accomplishments.,” Jay Shah said.