India created history on Sunday, as they defeated England in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup final, at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom. Chasing 69 to win, India achieved the target in 14 overs, winning by seven wickets. Soumya Tiwari was in good form as the No. 3 batter scored an unbeaten 24 runs off 37 balls, packed with three fours. Meanwhile, Gongadi Trisha also registered 24 runs off 29 balls, smacking three sixes during her blistering knock. Captain Shafali Verma too made a crucial contribution, adding 15 runs to the chase in 11 deliveries, also hitting a four and a six. Hannah Baker, Grace Scrivens and Alexa Stonehouse took a wicket each for England, but it wasn't enough to prevent a defeat.
After being invited to bat, England were bowled out for 68 runs in 17.1 overs, courtesy two-wicket hauls from Titas Sadhu, Archana Devi and Parshavi Chopra each. Meanwhile, Mannat Kashyap, Shafali and Sonam Mukesh Yadav bagged one scalp each. England batters had a disappointing outing with Ryana MacDonald-Gay ending up as the highest scorer for her side in the final with a knock of 19 runs off 24 balls, packed with three fours.
After the victory, the team were on the receiving end of a congratulatory message from the senior men's side. The BCCI posted a video on Twitter, where head coach Rahul Dravid began a short message. "Today was a landmark day for the Indian women's U19 team and they had a fantastic day. I would like to pass it on to the winning-U19 Boy's captain to pass on a message for the girls", said the former cricketer in brilliant gesture for Prithvi Shaw.
{{/usCountry}}After the victory, the team were on the receiving end of a congratulatory message from the senior men's side. The BCCI posted a video on Twitter, where head coach Rahul Dravid began a short message. "Today was a landmark day for the Indian women's U19 team and they had a fantastic day. I would like to pass it on to the winning-U19 Boy's captain to pass on a message for the girls", said the former cricketer in brilliant gesture for Prithvi Shaw.
{{/usCountry}}Shaw and Dravid go back to the youngster's Under-19 days. In fact, it was the coach-captain combination of Dravid and Shaw that helped India win the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2018. Fittingly enough, Dravid presented the reigns to Shaw, who knows what it is like to win an U19 World Cup.
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"I think it is a great achievement. Everyone wants to congratulate the U-19 women's team. So, congratulations, well done, congrats," Shaw said. After Shaw's message, the entire team cheered in unison.
Here is the video:
India's Shweta Sehrawat ended as the tournament's highest run-scorer with 297 runs in seven matches, at an average of 99.00. Meanwhile, Chopra was the second-highest wicket taker, with 11 dismissals in six games. This is the first-ever ICC title win by any Indian women's cricket team as Verma joined an illustrious list of cricketers - comprising Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, Unmukt Chand and Prithvi Shaw - to become an Under-19 World Cup winning captain for India.