Images from the ICC Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup 2023 final between India and England, at JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on Sunday.
India won the ICC women's Under-19 T20 World Cup, trouncing England by seven wickets in the final, in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on Sunday.
Chasing a paltry 69 for victory, the Shafali Verma-led side hit up the runs for the loss of just three wickets.
India lost Verma (15) and Shweta Sehrawat (5) early, but Gongadi Trisha (24) and Soumya Tiwari (24 not out) steadied the innings and guided the team home in 14 overs.
Shafali started with a boundary off Hannah Baker before launching Sophia Smale for a maximum.
However, Hannah Baker returned to get rid of India's skipper, having her caught by Alexa Stonehouse in the third over.
Shweta Sehrawat, her opening partner and the team's best batter in the tournament, was also back in the hut with just 20 runs on the board in the fourth over after offering a simple catch to Baker off Grace Scrivens in the fourth over.
Tiwari and Trisha then dug their heels in with a 46-run partnership.
With four runs needed, Trisha was cleaned up by Stonehouse, but Tiwari knocked off the winning runs.
"It is just a proud moment, its our first World Cup," said Trisha, with stumps in hand after the memorable triumph.
Earlier, pace sensation Titas Sadhu showed that the India's women's pace bowling is in safe hands following the exit of Jhulan Goswami with impressive figures of 4-0-6-2, while leg-spinner Parshavi Chopra gave ample display of her prowess, snapping 2 for 13, as England were dismissed for 68 in 17.1 overs.
Archana Devi also scalped 2 for 17, while Mannat Kashyap (1/13), Shafali Verma (1/16) and Sonam Yadav (1/3) accounted for a wicket each.
Opting to bowl, India came out with a specific plan and executed it perfectly as England's innings never really took off after being reduced to 16 for 3 in four overs.
Sadhu bowled 20 dot balls in her quota of four overs, striking off the fourth ball of the innings with a superb caught and bowl effort to get rid of Liberty Heap (0).
Spinner Archana then cleaned up Niamh Fiona Holland (10), while Gongadi Trisha pulled off a sensational catch to get rid of Grace Scrivens (4) to hand Archana her second wicket.
Sadhu could have added another wicket to her name but senior pro Richa Ghosh dropped a regulation catch of Ryana Macdonald Gay, who edged an away going ball.
The Bengal pacer, however, did not have to wait longer as she went through the gates of Seren Smale (3) next.
Macdonald Gay played a couple of hits to the fence to ease the pressure but in-form leg-spinner Chopra then got into the act, trapping Charis Pavely (2) in front of the wicket as England lost half of their side for 39 in 10 overs.
Left-arm spinner Kashyap also kept things tight at the other end as Chopra removed Gay with Archana taking a superb one-handed catch.
With England reeling at 46 for 6 in 12 overs, skipper Shafali brought herself in but Alexa Stonehouse hit her for a rare boundary.
Soumya Tiwari then came into action as her direct hit found Josephine Groves short by a big margin, leaving England at 53 for 7.
Shafali and Richa then combined to pile further misery on England with the latter producing a stumping effort. Kashyap then removed Stonehouse with Sonam taking a dolly at cover, while Sonam then caught and bowled Sophia Smale.
The Indian women's cricket team has never won a World Cup at any level. The seniors reached the World Cup final on three occasions across formats but failed to go the distance.
