Opener Shweta Sehrawat scored an unbeaten 92 and skipper Shefali Verma’s 16-ball 45 as India beat South Africa by seven wickets in the opening match of the Under-19 T20 World Cup on Saturday. Batting first, South Africa set a target of 167 runs to win. For India, Shefali and Sehrawat shared a 77-run partnership in seven overs. Shefali, who has played 51 T20s, two Tests and 21 ODIs for India, appeared in excellent form. He played the desired shots to the bowlers of South Africa. In his innings, he hit nine fours and a six. She was dismissed in the eighth over by spinner Miyane Smit.
At the same time Sehrawat hit 20 fours in his innings of 57 balls. He took India to victory with 21 balls to spare. Shefali also did wonders in bowling and took two wickets. For South Africa, Simon Lawrence scored 61 off 44 balls and Elandry Janse van Rensburg scored 23 off 13 balls. Left-arm spinner Sonam Yadav gave India the first breakthrough when she had Rensberg caught behind by Richa Ghosh. After this, Shefali sent Oluhle Siyo to the pavilion. The hosts’ run rate was curtailed after Lawrence was run out in the 17th over. The team scored 166 runs for five wickets.
