Ritu Singh has grown up trying to get a cricket ball to spin on concrete – little wonder she has jumped at the chance to bowl on the dry surfaces of Malaysia.
The USA all-rounder produced a stunning individual display at the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, taking five for 15 in the Super Six clash with New Zealand.
She took full advantage of conditions that were conducive to slow bowling, taking early wickets after New Zealand’s openers had got off to a flying start.
After three scalps in her first spell, she returned to complete her five-for to help bowl out the Kiwis for just 97.
The chase proved just beyond the Americans, who had beaten New Zealand in a warm-up match before the tournament, but Singh certainly did everything she could to repeat that result.
She said: “The plan was just to stick to what my process is and control the basics, trust my team and trust my field and do my best.
“At home, it’s really hard to get turn on concrete so when I come here, the turn I get is phenomenal. I’m really proud of myself and proud of my team for adjusting to the conditions.
“It’s surreal, this moment is not the result I wanted but I think it was a complete team effort, everyone did their part. I want to wish New Zealand congratulations.”
Growing up in Missouri, Singh was introduced to the sport by her father Ranjeet, who started a youth cricket programme in the area.
She quickly progressed and has established herself as a key contributor for the USA, to the point that she made her senior international debut aged just 16 back in 2022.
It might come as something of a surprise that her idols are MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle and Suryakumar Yadav, but that is likely because she is more of a batting all-rounder, irrespective of her stunning performance against New Zealand.
For skipper Anika Kolan, Singh’s presence in the team is a huge asset and there was only one place that she was going to turn after the USA had made a slow start bowling first in Kuala Lumpur.
She said: “Ritu has a past history of comebacks and the way she steps up for the team is phenomenal. So I knew that when we didn’t get the start we wanted, the first person I would turn to was Ritu and she would execute it the way the team needed.”
The USA eventually lost by 18 runs, and will now look to bounce back in their next Super Six match against South Africa on Tuesday.
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