India needed an infusion of confidence after their humbling defeat against the mighty Australians and the win versus Sri Lanka was a massive morale booster in their Group 1 match at Potchefstroom in the exciting ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. India won the toss and decided to field first.
Making the most of the conditions, India was able to restrict the brittle Sri Lankan batting quite impressively. Titas Sadhu was the first to get a breakthrough for India as she dismissed Nethmi Senarathna for a golden duck and with Mannat Kashyap getting rid of Sumudu Nisansala for 2, Sri Lanka was already off to a poor start. Vishmi Gunaratne however looked solid and was joined by Dewmi Vihanga who looked to anchor the innings but her dismissal in the 5th over by Kashyap had Umaya Rathnayake join Gunaratne.
They stitched a brief partnership before the skipper was out for 25. Manudi Nanayakkara’s dismissal for 5 and Vihara Sewwandi, Dulanga Dissanayake and Umaya Rathnayake’s for scores of 5, 0 and 13 meant Sri Lanka was more or less done and dusted. Sri Lanka folded for 59/9 in their 20 overs and for Parshavi Chopra, it was a phenomenal bowling effort as she scalped 4 wickets and Mannat Kashyap’s 2 wickets were instrumental for India.
🇮🇳 India U19 won by 7 wickets
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka U19: 59-9 (20)
Vishmi Gunaratne: 25 (28)
Umaya Rathnayake: 13 (36)
Parshavi Chopra 4- 5🇮🇳 India U19: 60-3 (7.2)
Soumya Tiwari: 28* (15)
Shafali Verma: 15 (10)
Dewmi Vihanga 3-34#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/b9C1O58oD4— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 22, 2023
India’s chase was not without hiccups as although the dynamic duo of Shafali Verma and Shweta Sehrawat did give them a good start but the dismissal of Verma and the new batter, Richa Ghosh with 15 runs on the board in the 2nd over itself was a setback. Sehrawat’s 13 off 17 was another jolt but a fiery 28* off 15 by Soumya Tiwari sealed the deal for India in 7.2 overs. Dewmi Vihanga was brilliant with the ball scalping the three wickets and proving why she is an asset to the Sri Lankan asset.
🤩4-5 (4 overs)
Parshavi Chopra’s stellar bowling secures four brilliant wickets against Sri Lanka 🔥#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/GFnUbMuuJg
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 22, 2023
Brief Scores: SL- 59/9 in 20 overs (V Gunaratne 25, U Rathnayake 13; P Chopra 4/5, M Kashyap 2/16) lost to IND- 60/3 in 7.2 overs (S Tiwari 28, S Sehrawat 13; D Vihanga 3/34) by 7 wickets and 76 balls to spare
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.