India spinners Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, and Sonam Yadav delivered a fantastic bowling show as their team beat Scotland by 83 runs on Wednesday in Benoni, South Africa, to crash their way into the Super Six of the first-ever Women’s U-19 Twenty20 World Cup.
After India elected to bat first, their star opener and captain, Shafali Verma, was out after scoring one run in the second over.
Gongadi Trisha’s heroic 57 runs off of 51 deliveries and Shweta Sehrawat‘s counter-attacking cameo of 31 not out off of 10 balls were the driving forces behind India reaching 149 for 4 in their innings.
In their response, left-arm spinner Mannat stole the show with a magnificent spell of 4-0-12-4, while off-spinner Archana Devi bagged 3/14 from her four overs as India knocked out Scotland for 66 in 13.1 overs to make it a hat-trick of wins and secure their spot in the Super Six.
India came out on top of Group D with six points after winning all three of their matches. Fifteen-year-old Sonam, who also spins the ball with her left arm, took two wickets in just one and a half overs to seal the rout. India have already won prior matches against South Africa and the UAE.
A few of days after they had achieved a magnificent 219 for 3 against UAE, riding on Shafali’s 34-ball 78 as they lost two wickets inside the powerplay, it was not the best start for India. It came after they had posted a massive 219 for 3 against UAE.
Katherine Fraser, the skipper for Scotland, made a diving catch as Shafali attempted to attack Nayma Shaikh over the midwicket boundary. Shafali was unsuccessful in her attempt.
Orla Montgomery was able to claim the wicket of Sonia Mendhiya, making her the second batswoman to be dismissed during the powerplay.
Then, in the middle overs, Richa Ghosh (33) and Trisha put together an important partnership of 70 runs, which helped steady the ship.
Richa and Trisha were both bowled out by Fraser (2/31) in the span of three balls, putting India in a precarious position with their score at 105 for 4 after 16.5 overs.
After that, Shweta led the assault on the Scottish base by hitting four boundaries and two sixes, bringing the match to a successful conclusion for India.
Darcey Carter (24) and Ailsa Lister (14), who were chasing, got Scotland off to a blazing start, bringing them to 40 for 1 in five overs. However, Mannat foxed the Scottish batters with her brilliant variations, which derailed their attempt to pursue the target.
In the middle overs, Mannat and Archana created a lethal partnership that quickly brought Scotland’s score down to 50 for 5 within the first 10 overs of the match.
After that point, it was only a matter of time before they were out of the game because none of the remaining hitters were able to score in the double digits.
India
