The warm-up matches of the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup got underway and we got to witness some interesting and remarkable contests. Here’s a quick rundown of what transpired!
Match 9 – United States of America vs United Arab Emirates
UAE won the toss and decided to bowl first. The USA put up a formidable 122/7 on the board driven by Laasya Mulapudi’s 33 but Samaria Dharnidharka’s 4 wickets where she even scalped a hat-trick was remarkable. UAE however was reduced to 91/6 in their 20 overs quota with Teertha Satish top scoring with a 32 off 19 and Aditi Chudasama picking 2 wickets as the USA pulled off a 31-run win.
Match 10 – Bangladesh vs India
Batting first, India put up 118/2 with G Trisha scoring 44 and Shafali Verma scoring an unbeaten 43 but Bangladesh pulled off a spectacular win as Shorna Akter top-scored with a remarkable 78* that sealed the deal for Bangladesh as they registered a win by 3 runs.
Match 11 – Indonesia vs England
Indonesia batting first was reduced to a dismal 45/9 in their 20 overs. Ryanna MacDonald Gay scalped 2 wickets with Ellie Anderson, Emma Marlow, Sophia Smale, Davina Perrin and Josie Groves picking a wicket each. England in return chased down the target within the powerplay but in an interesting turn of events decided to bat for another 9-10 overs so that both the teams can get more play time and practice and eventually, England finished with a massive 139/2 in 14.4 overs.
Match 12 – Rwanda vs Ireland
In what was an absolute thriller, Rwanda pulled off a remarkable win versus Ireland by one run. Chasing the 104 set by Rwanda, Ireland fell agonizingly short by 1 run although the commendable 41 by Amy Hunter was good and Henriette Ishimwe showed yet again why she is such an integral cog in the wheel for Rwanda scalping 2 wickets in what was a very economical spell.
Match 13 – South Africa vs Australia
South Africa’s torrid run in the lead-up to their home World Cup continued as they were handed another defeat by Australia who dismissed them for 61 in 15 overs and then Australia chased down the total with ease in 10 overs.
Match 14 – Zimbabwe vs West Indies
Winning the toss and bowling first, West Indies women managed to restrict Zimbabwe to a small total of 71 with 8 wickets lost. West Indies then triumphed over Zimbabwe by scoring 74 in 12.5 overs with 6 wickets to spare.
Match 15 – Pakistan vs New Zealand
Batting first, Pakistan scored 109/5 in their 20 overs quota and New Zealand chased down the total in 13 overs with a run rate of 8.46 and secured a win by 7 wickets.
Match 16 – Sri Lanka vs Scotland
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first and did a stellar job restricting Scotland to 86/10 in 17 overs as Dewmi Wijerathne pocketed 3 wickets and Sri Lanka chased down the score in the 19th over thereby drawing curtains on the warm-up matches of 11th January.
With these warm-up matches giving us a glimpse of some remarkable action we can strap our seatbelts for more of such edge-of-the-seat thrillers and scintillating contests that await us. The group stage matches kickstart on 14th January and be sure not to miss out on any of the matches!
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.