Potchefstroom
Scripting history, India won the inaugural Womenâs U19 T20 World Cup on Sunday, battering England by seven wickets. In a sense, it was a déjà vu for Indian cricketing fans as MS Dhoni and his bunch of mavericks had also won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa 15 summers ago in 2007.
Soumya Tiwari scored the winning runs for India as the entire bench ran the length of the turf to celebrate the momentous moment for the women's game.
Congratulations to the first ever champions of the Women's #U19T20WorldCup! ??? pic.twitter.com/LKKRIgrh8e
â T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) January 29, 2023
India bowlers once again emerged as the star of the show as they restricted England to a paltry score of 68, without allowing them to play the full quota of 20 overs.
Bowling first at Senwes Park, Indian bowlers had their radar right from the word go. Titas Ranadeep Sadhu struck in the first over, sending Liberty Heap back to the pavilion, after gulping a skier that came her way.
Off-spinner Archana Devi backed up the good start with a double-wicket, sending opposition skipper Scrivens and Fiona Holland in the same over.
Indian fielders rose to the occasion as runouts and stumpings made sure that the English side never got any whiff of recovery.
Explaining the sensational start to the match which set the tone for India's victory, Sadhu recalled that her main aim was to enjoy the outing.
"We were planning that we will get a good start (with the ball), we thought we will enjoy the three hours and that's the only plan."
This wasn't the first instance where English batting had failed in a crunch game. In the semifinal against Australia, England were left tottering at 45/7 before lower-order contributions took them to 99 which was defended heroically by the bowlers.
However, the three lioness bowlers were not able to repeat a similar feat as the Indian batters proved too brute and calculated in their approach.
Despite losing skipper Shafali Verma early on in the chase and later Shweta Sanjay Sehrawat, India did not panic and managed to keep their wits about, reaching the target with six overs to spare,
Soumya Tiwari steered the innings with a 37 ball 24 runs knock while Gongadi Trisha stood beside her, only departing when three runs were required for the historic win.
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