The Cricketer reports on events at the ICC Women’s Under-19 World Cup in South Africa
The inaugural edition of the Under-19s Women’s T20 World Cup is underway in South Africa, two years after originally planned. Today was the second day of the group stage.
Sixteen teams are taking part in the 2023 edition, split across four groups of four. Following a single round-robin, the top three teams in each group will progress into the Super 6 stage, from which the top two sides in Group 1 and Group 2 will advance to the semi-finals.
The final will take place in Potchefstroom on Sunday, January 29.
Happy faces after their first win in U19 World Cup #u19t20worldcup pic.twitter.com/Fhp9P4nmit
Rwanda 106-8, Pakistan 108-2 – Pakistan win by eight wickets
A much closer game than the final scoreline might suggest, Rwanda were in this encounter on their ICC global tournament debut until its very late stages.
Eyman Fatima (65*) and captain Syeda Aroob Shah (20*) ultimately got their country over the line with 13 balls remaining, but Rwanda – led by opening bowlers Henriette Ishimwe and Geovanis Uwase – gave them a run for their money.
Earlier, Gisele Ishimwe had made 40 from No.3, with Rwanda going along nicely at 72 for 2 before their innings subsided against a far more established cricketing nation. There were three runouts, one of which saw Zaib-un-Nisa catch Shakila Niyomuhoza out of her ground while in her run-up.
Indonesia 74-7, New Zealand 77-0 – New Zealand win by 10 wickets
New Zealand got off to the perfect start in more ways than one, winning easily against qualifiers Indonesia, with Anna Browning taking a wicket with the very first ball of the match to set the tone.
Indonesia weren’t blown away but they never recovered from that early blow to post a competitive total, with Tash Wakelin the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 3 for 14 from her four overs. Indonesia managed just three boundaries in their entire innings.
In reply, New Zealand completed their win with a minimum of fuss: Browning (38*) continued her excellent day’s work, with wicketkeeper Antonia Hamilton unbeaten on 26 to complete a 10-wicket win.
England began their campaign with a bang (Image: ECB)
England 199-4, Zimbabwe 25 – England win by 174 runs
England announced arrival at the tournament in style, with a crushing victory over Zimbabwe, set up by a brutal batting display and completed with a ruthless bowling effort.
Grace Scrivens and Charis Pavely both made 45, while Niamh Holland top-scored with 59, though Zimbabwe missed several chances in the field, including dropping Liberty Heap off her first ball.
She would go onto make 25 off 12 deliveries at the top of the innings. England hit 29 boundaries in their 20 overs.
Zimbabwe were skittled in reply, with captain Scrivens doing the bulk of the damage with her off-spin and only Lizzie Scott, who bowled a single over, going wicketless.
There were two wickets apiece for spinners Sophia Smale and Josie Groves, with no Zimbabwe player passing five.
West Indies 125-3, Ireland 118-7 – West Indies win by seven runs
West Indies got off to a winning start but had to play well to beat a talented Irish side that arrived at this tournament full of confidence.
St Lucian teenager Zaida James, who featured in the Women’s 6ixty last year, anchored the innings with a 57-ball 52, which featured eight boundaries and laid the foundations for a total that would prove just about enough.
Freya Sargent – with figures of 2 for 9 from her four overs – was the pick of the bowlers for the Irish, who ultimately left themselves with just too much to do in the second half of their run-chase.
Annabel Squires made 42 off 38 balls, while captain Amy Hunter hit 21 at the top of the innings. James, though, accounted for both to complete a superb all-round display, ending with figures of 4 for 20.
Bangladesh are back in action after beating Australia on Saturday (Sydney Seshibedi/Getty Images)
India v UAE (Benoni – 10am local time, 8am GMT)
Two teams who won their opening encounters will do battle on Monday, with UAE the latest side – after South Africa on Saturday – to have to find a way of dealing with Shafali Verma at the top of India’s order.
Verma’s rapid start was overshadowed by Shweta Sehrawat, 18, who hit 20 fours in her unbeaten 92 against South Africa. UAE come into the game with confidence, however, having started superbly themselves by overcoming Scotland by six wickets.
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Benoni B – 10am local time, 8am GMT)
Bangladesh have announced themselves in South Africa in some style, beginning their campaign by beating Australia.
They had shown more than enough in warmup wins over India and the host nation for that result not to come as a massive shock to those who have followed the young team’s progress.
That result makes them favourites to beat Sri Lanka, who also won their opener – a comfortable victory by seven wickets against USA.
Hard luck #Rwanda #CricketQueens. U put up a spirited fight in your 1st game. On to the next #U19T20WorldCup #U19WomensWorldCup @RwandaCricket pic.twitter.com/M5X7iRjEUw
South Africa v Scotland (Benoni – 1.45pm local time, 11.45am GMT)
The hosts will see this as an opportunity to get on the board against Scotland, the European qualifier for this tournament.
Scotland struggled with the bat against UAE, limping to 99 for 9 on Saturday, and they will come up against an aggressive South African top order on Monday; Elandri Janse van Rensburg and Simone Lourens hit 10 of the first 15 balls of South Africa’s innings to the boundary against India.
Australia v USA (Benoni B – 1.45pm local time, 11.45am GMT)
Australia were many people’s favourites coming into the tournament and few would have anticipated them beginning with a defeat, so a response is needed when they face USA on Monday.
USA made Sri Lanka work for their victory on Saturday, and they’ll be in for a similarly difficult task against the Aussies.
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