One obstacle too far for England – Under 19 World Cup – The Final
Potchefstroom, 29 January 2023
The Preliminaries
The two teams were unchanged, the temperature was in the mid-30s. A large crowd assembled, including members of England’s senior team who had travelled north to support.
For most of the players this was the biggest test of their lives. It’s hard to imagine the pressures of the occasion on youngsters of this age.
Inevitably the pitch had its part to play. After the two semi-finals it was being used for the third time in three days.
India won a toss that proved crucial. It allowed Shafali Verma to chose to bowl, which was always the plan.
The Match
Excellent bowiing put India in charge from the start. Their one quickie, Titas Sandhu, above all gave little away.
The unpredictable bounce and a measure of unwisdom led to Liberty Heap’s early dismissal (caught and bowled by Sandhu) for the second time running. England were on the back foot at 1-1 in the first over. Even Grace Scrivens couldn’t find the middle of her bat with any certainty.
Things rapidly went from bad to worse. In the fourth over Archana Devi clean bowled Niamh Holland, then Scrivens didn’t get full power on a lofted drive, to be taken at long-off. That was 16-3, all too reminiscent of the descent against Australia. But here there would be far fewer easy pickings from the spin department.
Seren Smale played slightly across a straight one (22-4), and you began to wonder where the runs were going to come from. Ryana Macdonald-Gay struck three aggressive fours to put on 15 with Charis Pavely, but Pavely was undone by an ibw decision, which, seen side on, let alone front on, looked unfortunate. (39-5).
The dancing teams on the slopes around the ground might have asked for overtime as they greeted the fall of each wicket.
RM-G was the next to go, caught off another imperfectly executed shot – a second wicket for the excellent leg-spinner Parshavi Chopra. The England batters had problems spotting her wrong’un. (43-6)
Both Josie Groves and Alrxa Stonehouse had recent experience of digging their side out of a deep hole, but this was a more vertical task. They became the third and fourth batters to reach double figures (11 each), but at 68-9 Stonehouse’s departure marked the end of the road.
The Reply
What ever stirring words were uttered by coaches and the young skipper, the result was now a foregone conclusion
The toss had done its work. The pressure was taken off India’s leading batters; they knew they could wait to pick off the occasional loose delivery. There was no need for the usual approach to T20 cricket.
Scrivens stuck wisely to spin for the first ten overs.
Hannah Baker again bowled her leggers impressively, but since the batters didn’t need to take risks, rewards were harder to achieve. She did induce Verma to loft a drive that Stonehouse took with a fine diving catch at deep mid-on. Even better, Scrivens encouraged the gifted Shweta Sehrawat to mishit the ball. It skied to short fine-leg where Baker took the catch.
There was the irony of the position. Both India’s top batters gone for 20, but the target was far too low to defend.
Josie Groives bowled her best over of the tournament, asking more questions with leg-apin, but she couldn’t achieve a breakthrough. Once again Sophia Smale lacked her usual accuracy, allowing too many shots into the unguarded leg-side.
By the drinks break (48-2) the game had reduced in tension.
Scrivens at last turned to her quicker bowlers. Stonehouse bowled accurately, but found little lateral movement; like Smale, Ellie Anderson was punished for letting the ball stray down the leg-side.
Soumya Tiwari (24*) and Gongadi Trisha (24), now responsible for their side’s destiny, calmly added the runs, till, just three short of victory, Trisha was bowled by Stonehouse. But that was not even consolation in defeat.
The rest of the Indian squad were already posing for festive photos.
Result:
England 68
India 69-3
India win by 7 wickets
Player of the Match: Titas Sandhu – on a pitch that so helped the spinners this was a thoroughly deserved award (4-0-6-2).
Teams:
India
Shweta Sehrawat, Shafali Verma (captain), Soumya Tiwari, G Trisha, Richa Ghosh (w-k), Hrishita
Basu, Titas Sadhu, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Sonam Yada
England
Grace Scrivens (captain), Liberty Heap, Niamh Holland, Seren Smale, Charis Pavely, Ryana Macdonald-Gay, Josie Groves, Ellie Anderson, Sophia Smale, Alexa Stonehouse and Hannah Baker
Umpires
Candace la Borde (West Indies)
Sarah Dambanevana (Zimbabwe)
Conclusion
In retrospect, and in the scorebook, this game looks like a damp squib. That’s unfortunate, but England were found unable to master the occasion and the conditions – for the second time. The team that had topped the scoring charts was brought up short when it really mattered.
But it was the occasion that triumphed as much as the Indian team. A large crowd was in attendance, the media covered the game far and wide. Names were being made; young female cricketers were showing their worth.
We can expect to see several names reappearing in glossier tournaments in the near future.
It hardly needed a final between the two strongest squads on view to prove the success of this brand-new tournament. The ICC deserves congratulations for conceiving it and seeing it through to its grand conclusion.
It has opened eyes around the world to the quality and enthusiasm of players across the spectrum: from countries where cricket is the No 1 topic of conversation to others where it is hardly known.
