Opener Shweta Sehrawat smashed an unbeaten 92 after skipper Shafali Verma blazed away to a 16-ball 45 as India crushed South Africa by seven wickets to begin their campaign in the inaugural Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup on a rousing note on Saturday.
Set a challenging target of 167, India were off to a blazing start with the opening duo of Shafali and Sehrawat adding 77 runs in just seven overs.
Shafali looked in excellent touch as she toyed with the South African bowlers and put her side on course for a big win. Sehrawat too maintained a very good strike rate throughout her innings, which came off 57 balls and included as many as 20 boundaries.
Captain Shafali shone with the ball too, picking up two wickets to put the brakes on the South African scoring rate. Shafali bowled her full quota of four overs and returned with impressive figures of 2/31.
Unperturbed by the departure of Shafali, vice-captain Sehrawat carried on in the same vein and helped her team cross the line with 21 balls to spare.
In another game, Bangladesh beat their Australian counterparts by seven wickets. Bangladesh overhauled the Aussies’ 130/5 in 18 overs.
Summarised scores: ■ South Africa Women U-19 166/5 in 20 overs (S. Lourens 61; S. Verma 2/31). India Women U-19 170/3 in 16.3 overs (S. Sehrawat 92 n.o.). India Women U-19 won by 7 wkts. ■ Australia Women U-19 130/5 in 20 overs (C. Moore 52; D. Biswas 2/25). Bangladesh Women U-19 132/3 in 18 overs. Bangladesh Women U-19 won by 7 wkts.
AD Knights lose opener
Dubai: Skipper Rovman Powell led from the front with an all-round show to hand Dubai Capitals a 73-run win over Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) in the opening match of the DP World ILT20 here.
Powell first scored 43 and then took two wickets to ensure the big win for the Capitals.
Powell struck three sixes and as many fours in his 29- ball knock He was well supported by opener Robin Uthappa (43).
In reply, ADKR could only manage 114 for the loss of 9 wickets.
Brief scores: Dubai Capitals 187/6 in 20 overs. ADKR 114/9 in 20 overs. DC won by 73 runs.
PTI
