India got a crushing defeat from Australia, the path to the semi-finals is now difficult

Potchefstroom: India’s winning streak in the Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup came to an end with a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in the Super Six stage. After losing the toss, the Indian team came out to bat and got reduced to just 87 runs in 18.5 overs. Earlier, the Indian team had managed to defend a target of 97 against Australia in a practice match, but the Shafali Verma-led side could not replicate the performance. In such a situation, the Australian team won with 37 balls to spare.

The loss hurt India’s net run rate (plus 1.905) which could play a crucial role in deciding which team qualifies for the semi-finals. The Indian team has now slipped to the second spot behind Australia in Super Six Group 1. Australia, India, South Africa and Bangladesh all have four points each, while Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates are unbeaten.

India’s strong batting line-up also showed weakness in the match. Millie Illingworth (2/12) again got the crucial wicket of Indian skipper Shefali (08) after hitting two fours. Then the same bowler got Gongdi Trisha (04) caught out by wicketkeeper Paris Hall in the next over. Sonia Medhiya (02) also came under pressure. Shweta Sehrawat (21 runs) was trying to reduce the pressure at one end but wickets kept falling at the other end.

Sehrawat was dismissed by Sienna Ginger, who took three wickets for 13 runs by sending Parshvi Chopra (08) and Mannat Kashyap (01) to the pavilion in the next two overs. After the early dismissal of the top order, the middle order also crumbled under pressure, with only three Indian players reaching double figures.

Australia chased down the target with aggressive batting and the Indian bowlers had no answers. Titas Sadhu, Archana Devi and Sonam Yadav took one wicket each but the Australian team reached the target easily.

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