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.
After the win, congratulatory messages rang in from all corners and the Indian senior men's Team also joined the chorus after securing a win in the second T20I against New Zealand in Lucknow.
Head coach Rahul Dravid and 2018 U-19 World Cup-winning captain Prithvi Shaw delivered a congratulatory message on behalf of the entire team.
"Today was a landmark day for the Indian women's Under-19 team and they had a fantastic day," said Dravid in a video shared by the BCCI.
"I think it's a great achievement and everyone wants to congratulate the U-19 women's team. So, congratulations," said Shaw as all the players cheered in unison.
Watch the video here:
Coming back to the 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.
