Defending champions India booked their place in the semi-finals of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup by beating Bangladesh, with their goal of dominating their opponents early in the field paying off once more.
Trisha Gongadi smashed 40 from 31 balls as India eased to an eight-wicket victory inside eight overs of the reply, wrapping up a place in the last four at the first opportunity at Bayuemas Oval.
The bowlers once again set the tone. So far in this tournament, India have taken their first wicket in the first two overs in all but one game. The exception – against the West Indies – still saw them reduce their opponents to 18 for four by the end of the Powerplay.
Against Bangladesh, excellent fielding and miserly bowling from Shabnam and VJ Joshitha ensured that India were always on top, much to the delight of skipper Niki Prasad.
She said: “We’re really happy with the way we performed and how we gave a good show.
“It’s definitely needed for every team we face, having your bowlers come on and get the breakthroughs early on. We’ve been doing really well, I am sure they will continue the same way.
“We’ve been putting in a lot of effort before the match and in our preparation for the fielding, it has been really good. When we’re on the field, we just want to dominate. We aim to give our best and keep evolving and getting better and better.”
The early breakthroughs from the Indian quicks have opened the door for the slow bowlers to capitalise, something they have done in every game so far.
On this occasion, it was Vaishnavi Sharma who was once again the standout performer, taking three for 15 to take her wickets tally for the tournament to nine, the joint most of any player.
That was enough to earn her player of the match honours for the second time in the tournament, but she was quick to pay tribute to her teammates for setting up the win.
She said: “I have no words for this. Credit to the opening bowlers for making the spinners’ job easier. It didn’t turn as much today so I just attacked the stumps.”
This victory is the third in quick succession for India against Bangladesh, having also beaten them twice in the recently concluded U19 Women’s Asia Cup, with Gongadi top-scoring on each occasion.
India will look to make it five wins from five in their second Super Six match against Scotland on Tuesday.
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