With the inaugural, International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Under-19 Twenty20 (T20) World Cup that’s to be played early next year in South Africa just around the corner, teams have been busy locking their best XI to have a fruitful first. The Under-19 sides of New Zealand and West Indies contested over a 2-match T20 series in Mumbai, India at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy and more from the series is briefed below.
1st T20 : West Indies U19 vs New Zealand U19 Women’s Team
West Indies U19 – 116/9 (20.0)
New Zealand U19 – 117/9 (19.4)
West Indies put in to bat first had a poor start as the side lost Shunelle Sawh, Djenaba Joseph and Realeanna Grimmond on respective scores of 0(2), 0(6) and 10(17) inside the powerplay with 21 on board. Timely runs from Naijanni Cumberbatch (26) and skipper, Ashmini Munisar (23) helped the Windies’ scorecard get a much-needed push. Tailender, Lena Scott’s 12*(9) pushed the side to finish on 116 and New Zealand in the wickets column had Amie Hucker top with a couple to her name, while all others finished with a wicket each.
New Zealand in reply very much like the Windies had a poor start having lost skipper, Prue Catton (0), Olivia Gain (12) and Anna Browning (13) inside the powerplay overs with 16 on board. While Izzy Gaze’s 44 calmed the chaos, wickets tumbled on the other end as Abby Gerken (15) and Nensi Patel (2) departed cheaply. Izzy when departed with 81 on board, was followed by tailenders, Ocean Bartlett (2), Amie Hucker (1) and Natasha Codyre 1(1). Ashtuti Kumar’s 16-ball-21* and Bree Illing’s 12*(9) helped New Zealand win the chase with a couple of balls to spare despite being 9 down for 89 in the 17th over. Windies with the ball had, Jannillea Glasgow, Ashmini Munisar and Djenaba Joseph bag a couple of wickets each, while Kd Jazz Mitchell and Shalini Samaroo bagged a wicket each.
Result : New Zealand U19 won by 1 wicket
2nd T20 : West Indies U19 vs New Zealand U19 Women’s Team
New Zealand U19 – 176/5 (20.0)
West Indies U19 – 142/7 (20.0)
New Zealand elected to bat first and had Olivia Gain start off aggressively, but lost her opening partner, Prue Catton on 6(9) with 22 on board. As Olivia Gain continued to strike the ball exceedingly well, the following set of batters; Anna Browning (12) Flora Devonshire (16) and Paige Loggenberg (20) all departed for starts. Olivia in the final over with 3 balls to spare fell short of a much-deserved single as she walked back with a 99 to her name off 58 balls. New Zealand finished on a commanding 176 and the Windies with the ball had, Jannillea Glasgow and Djenaba Joseph bag a couple of wickets each, while Shalini Samaroo struck one.
West Indies in reply lost a couple of quick wickets of Realeanna Grimmond (5) and Asabi Callender (5) inside the powerplay overs with 15 on board. Opener, Shunelle Sawh was well partnered by Djenaba Joseph and the pair with a 65-run stand kept Windies’ hopes alive. The partnership between the two saw curtains in the 13th over with the former departing on 22(34) and a set Djenaba was joined by Trishan Holder. The pairs’ 48-run aggressive partnership saw curtains with Djenaba departing on 48(33). Skipper, Ashmini Munisar next departed for 1 and was followed by Jannillea Glasgow (0) and Shalini Samaroo (0). Lena Scott alongside Trishan remained unbeaten on respective scores of 6(6) and 38(22) in the side’s 34-run defeat in a must-win.
Result : New Zealand U19 won by 34 runs
Series result : New Zealand U19 won the 2-match series 2-0.