Heartbreak and excitement were equal parts in Potchefstroom as India and England square off in the final of the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup on Sunday. While India beat New Zealand comfortably in the first semi-final, the tension kind of escalated as England beat Australia by three runs in a low-scoring thriller.
Defending 99, England fast bowlers Ellie Anderson and Alexa Stonehouse crippled Australia with a triple strike from legspinner Hannah Baker. She varied her flight and length to bowl Ella Hayward and then gained enough purchase from the surface to have Australia captain Rhys McKenna caught at mid-off and trapped wicketkeeper Paris Hall in three balls to get them out for 7 for 59. done.
Ella Wilson and Millie Illingworth, batting at No. 9 and No. 10, managed to hit a boundary at the end to bring the equation down for Australia, who had four wickets in hand with two wickets in hand and three overs in hand. But Grace Scrivens was run out through a direct hit from mid-off by Rayna McDonald-Gay before trapping No. 11 Maggie Clark.
The scene was halfway through when Clarke, Hayward and Sienna Ginger walked back in with the three-four. Opting to bat, the script went awry for England as they lost wickets at regular intervals and were 4 for 29 at the end of the powerplay.
Illingworth’s pace and Clarke’s long length saw the backs of Liberty Heap – who has formed a successful alliance at the top with captain Scrivens – and No. 3 Niamh Holland. Off-spinner Hayward created more trouble by breaking the back of the middle order.
But Scrivens is currently at number two List of run scorers in the tournament Even after England’s score was 37 for 5 in the ninth over, he held one end. However, she found it difficult to handle a full length delivery from fast bowler Ginger and she was dismissed for 20 by Claire Moore at long-off. This happened only because of a 46-run eighth-wicket partnership between Stonehouse (25) and Josie Groves. (15) that England had succeeded in getting close to a hundred.
India spins out New Zealand
Earlier in the day, India’s spinners wove a net around New Zealand and restricted them to 107 for 9 before a masterclass from opener Shweta Sehrawat helped them win by eight wickets. Sehrawat scored an unbeaten 61 off just 45 balls with the help of ten fours and shared a 62-run partnership with Soumya Tiwary (26) for the second wicket. This was his third fifty in the competition, due to which he found himself at the top of the batting charts.
This was after legspinner Parshvi Chopra, who shone with a player-of-the-match performance against Sri Lanka, left New Zealand with three for 20 to cross the line. She broke the 37-run second-wicket partnership between Georgia Plimmer and Isabella Gaze (26), trapping the latter LBW.
Only Plimmer offered some resistance with the bat, scoring 35 off 32 balls, and she was the seventh batsman with a score of 91.
