Potchefstroom: Batting sensation Shafali Verma will chase history when she leads India against England in the first-ever ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup final here on Sunday. For all their success at the international stage, the Indian women's cricket team has never won a World Cup at any level and the young batter, who has been part of two World Cup and one Commonwealth Games final with the senior team, will look to bring the elusive title home.
The seniors have made the World Cup final on three occasions across formats only to have returned with bitter memories — losing to Australia by 98 runs in 2005 and losing to England by 9 runs in 2017 in the ODIs, and in T20Is they went down in the 2020 final to the Aussies by 85 runs. The youngster from Rohtak has been part of two World Cups across formats and she also witnessed another final defeat when India had settled for a silver medal in last year's Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
India suffered one defeat in the Super Six league stage where they lost to their 'nemesis' Australia after being bowled out for 87. In the semifinal, India registered a dominating eight-wicket win after their bowlers restricted a powerful New Zealand side to an under-par 107—9. Leg-spinner Parshavi Chopra led the bowling show by claiming 3/20, while Shafali went for just seven runs in her four overs, taking one wicket. In reply, a ruthless half-century from the opening batter and the tournament's leading scorer, Shweta Sehrawat, saw India home. Shweta finished unbeaten on 61 as India cantered home in 14.2 overs.
Squads
India: Shafali Verma, Shweta Sehrawat, Gongadi Trisha, Soumya Tiwari, Sonia Mehdiya, Richa Ghosh, Hrishita Basu, Titas Sadhu, Mannat Kashyap, Parshavi Chopra, Sonam Yadav, Shabnam, Falak Naz and Yashasri Soppadhandhi
England: Grace Scrivens, Ellie Anderson, Hannah Bakers, Josie Groves, Liberty Heap, Niamh Holland, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Emma Marlov, Charis Pavley, Davina Perrin, Lizzie Scott, Seren Smale, Sophia Smale, Alexa Stonehouse and Maddie Ward
When: January 29, 2023
Where to Watch: Star Sports network
Live Streaming: Hotstar/FanCode
Timing: 5:15 pm IST onwards
