ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup: India get off to an impressive winning start

ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup: stunning performances from opening batters Shafali Verma and Shweta Sehrawat saw India overcome South Africa in a run-fest on the opening day of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, while Sri Lanka saw off a dogged USA.

Result: India won by 7 wickets

Runs flowed as India got their campaign off to a winning start against South Africa in Benoni, putting down an early marker as tournament favourites.

A stunning flurry of early runs saw South Africa get off to a lightning-quick start, with openers Simone Lourens and Elandri Janse Van Rensburg doing the damage. The score was 56/1 after just four overs when Janse Van Rensburg fell for 23 off 13, and the pace of scoring slowed slightly as the innings went on. Lourens top-scored with 61 from 44, before some late hitting lifted the Proteas up to an impressive 166/5.

ndia’s reply got off to the perfect start, with star player Shafali Verma putting the host nation to the sword early on. Verma struck 45 from just 16 deliveries, including one over where all six balls went to the boundary, before being caught off Miane Smit.

But Verma’s fellow opener Shweta Sehrawat kept the momentum going, finishing unbeaten on a brilliant 92* from 57 as India chased down their target with still 21 balls remaining.

Sri Lanka pushed close by USA

MATCH CENTRE AND SCORECARD

Toss: USA won the toss and batted first

Result: Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets

Sri Lanka recovered from a sluggish start with the bat to beat USA in their opening match of the tournament.

Dewmi Vihanga Wijerathne was the star with the ball, taking 3/11 from her four overs as the American side struggled to get going.

Disha Dhingra (18 from 26) and Ritu Priya Singh (22 from 23) ensured that a reasonable target was reached, but 96/9 was never likely to seriously trouble a talented Sri Lankan batting line-up.

A cautious Sri Lankan reply saw both openers fall relatively cheaply, with the score just 32/2 after 8.1 overs. But Vishmi Gunarathne (34* from 40) and Manudi Nanayakkara (32* from 31) led the recovery to see the Lankans home with an over to spare.