Sports Report
POTCHEFSTROOM: India has been crowned the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World champion after they sealed an easy seven-wicket win against England in the final on Sunday.
India dismantled England’s batting line as their bowlers bundled out the English batters for a paltry 68-run total before comfortably chasing down the target in 14 overs.
A clinical bowling effort with two wickets each to Archana Devi, Titas Sadhu, and Parshavi Chopra put India on top after they decided to field first.
India batting
In reply, middle-order batters Gongadi Trisha and Soumya Tiwari made 24 runs each to help India take an easy win in the end following the early dismissal of the dependable opening pair of skipper Shweta Sehrawat and Shefali Verma.
Sehrawat, who remained the leading run-scorer of the tournament with her exuberant 297 runs coming at a ridiculously-high average of 99, fell cheaply this time off Hannah Baker in the fourth over after making just 5 from 6 balls.
England got their first breakthrough in the third over when skipper Verma in her attempt to finish the game early, was handed a chance at mid-on, which Alexa Stonehouse excellently grabbed off Grace Scrivens’ bowling. Skipper Verma smashed a couple of boundaries during her brief yet energetic knock of 11 runs from 15 balls.
Trisha and Tiwari then led the chase and stitched a solid 46-run partnership before Stonehouse dismissed the latter with only two runs left to defend.
England batting
Earlier, India suppressed England’s batting lineup with intermittent jolts that put English batters under constant pressure. With an early wicket of opener Liberty Heap in the very first over, India unleashed an all-out attack that effectively denied any breathing space to opponents batters.
With a 24-ball 19, Ryana MacDonald-Gay top-scored for her side amid a deplorable batting performance from the rest, only three of whom reached double digits.
