A hard-fought half-century from Gongadi Trisha and brilliant bowling spells by Parunika Sisodia, Aayushi Shukla and Sonam Yadav helped India clinch the inaugural edition of the ACC U-19 Women’s T20 Asia Cup by beating Bangladesh in the final at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sunday, December 22.
India’s 46-run win has helped in reducing the disappointment of the men’s team’s loss that had come at the hands of Bangladesh in the final of the ACC U19 Asia Cup on December 8 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS).
The coin fell in favour of the Bangladesh captain Sumaiya Akter, who had no hesitation in bowling first. The Bangladesh bowlers justified their captain’s call as they claimed wickets at regular intervals to limit India to just 117 in 20 overs.
Wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini was the first wicket to fall for India. Farjana Easmin dismissed Kamalini on the third delivery of the fifth over for 5. Easmin claimed Sanika Chalke just two deliveries later and reduced India to 25/2 after five overs.
Trisha then joined hands with captain Niki Prasad and added 41 runs for the third wicket. Prasad, like her other teammates, failed to rise to the occasion and departed after scoring 12 runs off 21 balls with the help of a six.
Unfazed by the fall of wickets at the other end, Trisha completed her half-century and became the third victim of Easmin. Trisha scored 52 off 47 balls, including five fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 110.63.
A 12-ball 17 by Mithila Vinod guided India to a respectable total in the end but it needed a disciplined bowling display to defend.
In reply, Bangladesh were blown away by the Indian attack and could only manage to score 76 before getting bundled out in 18.3 overs. Barring opener Fahomida Choya (18 off 24 balls) and wicketkeeper-batter Juairiya Ferdous (22 off 30 balls), none of the other Bangladesh batters even managed to reach the double digits.
Aayushi Shukla was the pick of all the India bowlers as she finished with figures of 3/17. She was well supported by Parunika Sisodia and Sonam Yadav, who claimed two wickets each.
