Semi-Finalists in Women’s U19 World Cup
Source:Thuppahis
The Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025
Hosted by Malaysia, has reached its penultimate stage as India, Australia, South Africa and England emerge to be the semi-finalists. After weeks of intense league matches, and the thrilling super six stage where the 12 teams clashed, the top two teams from each group advanced to the final four.
While India and Australia dominated Group 1, South Africa and England emerged victorious from Group-2. The semi-finals are set to take place on 31st January at the Bayuemas Oval, Kuala Lumpur one after another.
India:
India reaches the Semi-finals of the U-19 Women’s World Cup unbeaten, having won all three of their group-stage matches and gaining a convincing victory over Bangladesh in the Super Six Stage. The defending champions occupy the top spot in the Super Six Group 1 with 6 points and an impressive run-rate of +4.567.
Their dream-run began with the match against West Indies, where they defeated West-Indies by 9 wickets. Bowling first, the magic spells of Parunika Sisodia, Joshita VJ and Aayushi Shukla, helped India restrict West Indies to 44. On the loss of one wicket, they comfortably chased the target in 4.2 overs. Second in line were the hosts Malaysia who suffered a crushing 10 wicket defeat at the hands of India. They were bowled out for 31 as Vaishnavi Sharma picked up 5 wickets giving just 5 runs. In a mere 2.5 overs, Indian openers had chased the target. In their last league match, India defeated Sri Lanka by 60 runs. Batting first, they had set a target of 118 with Trisha Gongadi scoring 49. Sri Lanka could manage to score only 58 against the impressive Indian bowling line-up.
They continued their dominance in the Super Six beating Bangladesh by 8 wickets. Winning the toss, India elected to field first and limited Bangladesh to 64 runs. The key contribution came from Vaishnavi Sharma who picked up 3 wickets, giving 15 runs. India chased the target in 7.1 overs with Trisha scoring 40 off 31. India will be eyeing to retain their title, driven by the impressive performances of Vaishnavi Sharma, the top wicket-taker of the tournament and Trisha Gongadi who sits second in the run scorers’ tally.
Australia:
Australia, like India, maintained a perfect record in the tournament, remaining invincible throughout. However, they trail India in Super Six Group 1 due to a slightly inferior net run rate. Their first match of the tournament against Scotland handed them a one-sided victory as they defeated Scotland by 9 wickets. Scotland stumbled to 48 in 15.1 overs as Caoimhe Bray and Eleanor Larosa, both picked up three wickets each. Australia achieved the target in 6.4 overs. Kate Pelle’s blistering 29 off 15 balls was the catalyst for their dominant run-chase.
Australia continued their winning momentum in the Super Six stage, thrashing West-Indies by 7 wickets. Restricting them to 53, Australian bowlers were on the top of their game, with Eleanor Larosa standing out with a two-wicket haul for just 6 runs, earning her Player of the Match Award. In response, Australia chased down the target in 10.5 overs. This time, Australia will be eager to erase the memories of their semi-final heartbreak in the previous edition of the U19 T20 World Cup where they fell short against England.
South Africa:
The trend of unbeaten teams continued, as South Africa joined India and Australia in the Semi-Finals. South Africa started their winning streak by defeating New Zealand in a rain curtailed match. South Africa had put up a total of 97 runs in 11 overs, with Jemma Botha, the opener scoring a crucial 32. Kayla Reyneke and Monalisa Legodi picked up a couple of wickets each restricting New Zealand to 69 runs and leading South Africa, to win the match by 22 runs.
Following this, South Africa ensured a resounding victory in their second match, defeating Samoa by a perfect 10 wickets. The bowlers delivered a stellar performance bowling Samoa out for just 16 runs with Nthabiseng Nini claiming 3 wickets. The South African openers wrapped up the short chase in under 2 overs. Further, South Africa secured a 41-run victory over Nigeria in their final league match, with the win coming via DLS. For her impressive bowling figures of 1-0-1-2, Seshnie Naidu emerged as the Player of the Match.
Mirroring the feats of its counterparts, India, Australia and South Africa, England also advances to the semi-finals unbeaten. Their first league match against Ireland was abandoned due to rain. But England emerged victorious in their next two matches against Pakistan and USA.
In the match against Pakistan, England bowled them out for 66 runs as Amuruthaa Surenkumar picked up three wickets. Losing four wickets, the target was chased down in 9.2 overs with Katie Jones scoring 20 runs off 16. This was followed by the match against USA who had set a total of 119. England’s chase got off to a flying start as opener Davina Perrin scored 74 off 45 balls. Trudy Johnson also contributed with an unbeaten 44. Ultimately, England won by 8 wickets.
While their first super six match against Nigeria was abandoned, they qualified for the semis following a 6-wicket victory over New Zealand in their second super six match. New Zealand were bowled out for 89 as Tilly Corteen-Coleman picked up 4 wickets giving away 4 runs. England reached the target in 11.4 overs with Jemima Spence scoring 29 off 18. Their opener Davina Perrin is the highest run getter of this season. The last time runners-up, after falling short of glory, will be driven to secure the title.
