Skipper Shafali Verma and Hrishita Basu impressed as India notched up an 18-run win in their warmup match against Australia ahead of the inaugural edition of the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.
Opting to bat first, India managed a total of 97/8 in their 20 overs. But, as they have done in the matches they have played in recent weeks and months, produced a strong bowling performance. Led by Shafali, they bounced back with the ball to restrict the Aussies to 79/7 in 20 overs.
Shafali and Richa Ghosh, regulars in the senior team, scored 10 (8) and 12 (13) respectively. It was Basu, batting at No 7, who hit three fours in her knock and made a crucial 28 off 39 to guide her team to a fighting total.
Perhaps a concern for India is that five of the eight wickets that fell were run-outs.
With the ball, though, India seemed to have been a lot more disciplined than their counterparts with captain Shafali picking three wickets in her quote of four overs to finish with 4-1-8-3.
Leg spinner Parshavi Chopra bagged two wickets while opening batter Soumya Tiwari got one as the Indians completed a victory that augurs well ahead of the tournament.
India lost in the second warm-up match against Bangladesh on Wednesday, but not much information is available about what transpired. The scorecard on ICC’s website says Bangladesh made 121/7 while India scored 118/2 to lose by three runs.
The tournament begins on Saturday for India, on January 14, with a clash against hosts South Africa.
India recently defeated South Africa 4-0 in a five-match series in Pretoria. Earlier, end of last year, they defeated New Zealand’s development team 5-0 in Mumbai.
Shafali Verma and Co are placed in Group D alongside South Africa, UAE and Scotland. The top three teams from each group will progress to the Super Six round, where teams will be pooled into two groups of six. The top two teams from each group will then progress to the semi-finals, which will be played on 27 January at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom. The final will take place at the same venue on 29 January.
India U19 team for ICC Under-19 Women’s World Cup - Shafali Verma (Captain), Shweta Sehrawat (Vice-Captain), Richa Ghosh (WK), G Trisha, Soumya Tiwari, Sonia Mendhiya, Hurley Gala, Hrishita Basu (WK), Sonam Yadav, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD.
Standby players: Shikha Shalot, Najla CMC, Yashashri
There was no broadcast / live updates for the warm-up match, the details are as provided on the ICC scorecard.
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