The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah on January 30 (Monday) announced that the board will felicitate the Indian women's U-19 team that recently clinched the inaugural World Cup title in South Africa. The felicitation will take place at Shri Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad at 6:30 PM IST before the third and final T20I between India and New Zealand gets underway on February 01 (Wednesday). Former India captain and legendary batter, Sachin Tendulkar will join the BCCI officials in felicitating the triumphant Indian team.
"It is with great delight I share that Bharat Ratna Shri @sachin_rt and @BCCI Office Bearers will felicitate the victorious India U19 team on Feb 1st in Narendra Modi Stadium at 6:30 PM IST. The young cricketers have made India proud and we will honour their achievements," BCCI Secretary said in Tweet.
Shafali Verma-led India created history on January 29 (Sunday) as they clinched the inaugural 2023 women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup title. India defeated England by seven wickets and ended women’s jinx at World Cup events healing the wounds of Mithali Raj-led India who lost to England in a closely-fought ODI World Cup 2017 final.
The lowly target of 69 did not pose a threat to India. Shafali (15) walked out to bat with the idea of finishing the run chase early. She struck one four and a six but got dismissed by Hannah Baker as Alexa Stonehouse took a spectacular catch diving forward. In the next over, the highest run-scorer of the tournament Shweta Sehrawat played a loose shot to lose her wicket. She became Grace Scrivens' victim in the fourth over after scoring five runs from six deliveries. Hannah produced another chance in her next over. Soumya Tiwari took the bait as she went for a booming drive and got dropped by first slip fielder.
After powerplay overs, India had 30/2 on the board. England fielders were not able to create pressure on Soumya and Gongadi Trisha. Also, the score on the board wasn't enough to force Indian batters to panic and take unnecessary risks. At halfway stage, India had 48/2 on the board. The partnership was broken by Alexa who got the consolation wicket of Gongadi (24) when India needed three more runs to win. Soumya scored the winning runs for India as they won the game with six overs to spare.
