India beat England in the first-ever ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup final on Sunday in Potchefstroom, South Africa with an all-round show.
Shefali Verma led Indian women’s team chased a target of 69. India won the match with seven wickets in hand and six overs to spare. The team won the toss and decided to put England in to bat. Opening bowlers Titas Sadhu and Archana Devi ripped through the England top order, confining them to 22/4 after six overs; key batter Grace Scrivens was one of those to fall. Sadhu bowled her four overs straight through, going for just six runs and picking up two wickets. Devi’s 2/17 included the vital dismissals of Scrivens and Niamh Holland. The final wicket fell with 17 balls still remaining, leaving India a target of only 69 runs to win.
Shafali Verma’s aggressive 15 from 11 balls cut into the target early on, but Soumya Tiwari and Gongadi Trisha settled things down with an excellent and composed partnership. But, the winning moment of the thrilling match came with Soumya Tiwari’s single, to see it through with an unbeaten 24* from 37 balls.
