India became the first-ever ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup finalists by beating New Zealand by eight wickets in the first semi-final at Potchefstroom’s JB Marks Oval.
With just 45 balls to go, Shweta Sehrawat’s unbeaten 61 gave India the win with 34 balls to go. India let the Kiwis hit first after limiting New Zealand to 107 for her 9.
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Sehrawat added her 33 for her first wicket against captain Shafali Verma (10) and her 62 for her second wicket against Soumya Tiwari (26 to 22 balls), up to Helped myself up to the 10 limit.
Previously, India had one of the best performances on the field, skillfully catching and throwing wickets from wicket to wicket. Sensing the pitch slowing down, I pulled her back a little length and forced Kiwi to play a cross-butt shot. As a result, several New Zealand starlets were caught behind the center or leg-side squares of the wicket. A dangerous Georgia plummer (35 of 32 pitches) was caught by Deep in his square looking to pull the team back into play.
But the real damage was done directly by India. Anna Browning was kicked out by Mannat Kashyap. The edge was torn by Tiwari when he slipped. New Zealand’s other starter, Emma McLeod, was caught up front by Tita’s Sadhu, who was trying to pick up the pace. Izzy Gaze (26 out of 22 balls) did some repair work on her Plimmer but kept losing wickets at the wrong times.
Parshavi Chopra continued his excellent tournament, winning 20-3.
India, who felt the match was under their control, were very astute at every opportunity. The dismissal of Paige Roggenberg is a classic example. Frishita Bass initially dropped a catch for Natasha Cordille, but quickly responded to the attempted single.
She picked up her hard ball and threw fore-end stumps.Loggenberg was short enough.It was such street smarts that strangled New Zealand 9 to 107.a
That’s never enough against a confident Indian top order.
India will wait to see who will face them in Sunday’s final, while Australia and England will face off in the second semi-final. After losing to Australia in the Super Six stage, Velma’s momentum has bounced back and hopes for a chance to become the first team to win the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.