India beat South Africa in first women’s U-19 T20 tie

Vice-captain Shweta Shehrawat and Soumya Tiwari hit 40 apiece before Shabnam Shakeel and Archana Devi claimed 3 wickets each in the 54-run victory in Pretoria

The Indian women’s U-19 team beat South Africa by 54 runs in their first T20 game of the five-match series in Pretoria on Tuesday. The series is a crucial final build-up to the junior World Cup in the shortest format which starts on January 14.

Shweta Sehrawat and Soumya Tiwari (BCCI Women/Twitter)

Skipper Shafali Verma, one of the two teenaged players from the senior national side chosen for the U-19 campaign, fell for a first-ball duck. It was an unwanted repeat of her dismissal first ball on senior debut, also against South Africa in 2019.

However, she had reason to cheer in the end after pacer Shabnam Shakeel and off-spinner Archana Devi bagged three wickets each to deliver the commanding victory.

After Shafali fell, Shweta Shehrawat and Soumya Tiwari revived the innings with a 70-run second wicket partnership. Vice-captain Shweta made 40 off 39 balls while Soumya scored 40 off 46 balls. After both got out, India’s batting line-up struggled to find runs and wickets tumbled at regular intervals.

Richa Ghosh, the other member of the senior squad, was also dismissed for 15 before Hurley Gala (11) and Tithas Sidhu (13) helped India finish on 137/5.

Indian bowlers though were well prepared to defend the modest score. Shabnam, the 15-year-old lanky medium-pacer from Andhra Pradesh, removed SA openers Elandri Janse Van Rensburg and Simone Lourens early in the innings. Spinner Archana took over claiming three wickets to peg back the hosts.

Needing 70 runs off the last five overs, South Africa were eventually restricted to 83/8 in 20 overs. Kayla Reyneke top-scored for South Africa with 20 runs off 25 balls before falling as Shabnam’s third victim.

Brief scores: India 137/5 (Shweta 40, Soumya 36, Kyla 2/13, Hlubi 2/22); South Africa 83/8 (Shabnam 3/15, Archana 3/14). India won by 54 runs