India put up a terrific display in the final against England to emerge as the first-ever winners at the Women’s U19 T20 World Cup on Sunday in South Africa. Led by a superb bowling performance and an impressive fielding display, India had England on the back foot right from the word go after opting to bowl first in the final. Bowling England out for 68, India chased down the target with seven wickets and six overs to spare, sparking huge celebrations in the camp. Several current and former Indian players congratulated the under-19 stars on social media. Congratulations to our Indian Women’s team on winning the U-19 World Cup! Well-played champions, tweeted Yuvraj Singh. Congratulations, #TeamIndia, this is a monumental achievement! This fantastic victory shows how dominating you have been throughout the tournament. The triumph is even more special, considering this is the first-ever Women’s #U19T20WorldCup. Cherish every moment! Tweeted Mithali Raj. An emotional Shafali played a pivotal role in helping India claim the inaugural U19 title with an emphatic sevenwicket victory over England on Sunday. The 19-year-old is now eyeing a historic double.

Shafali is already an established star in India’s senior side and wants to make the visit to South Africa even more worthwhile with another piece of silverware at next month’s tournament. Shafali was part of India’s squad that fell at the final hurdle at the 2020 T20 World Cup when Australia defeated the Asian side by 85 runs in front of more than 85,000 fans at the MCG. Shafli was a baby-faced 17-year-old when that finally took place in Melbourne almost three years ago, but the India star said she still feels the pain from the loss. “Melbourne was a very emotional day for me in that final game. We didn’t win the game,” Shafali recalled. “When I joined the Under-19 team, I’m just thinking, ‘you know, we have to win this Cup.’ I’m telling all the girls, ‘We have to win this Cup. We are here for the Cup.’ Shafali finished the U19 event as the third leading run-scorer with a total of 172 runs, with teammate and fellow opener Shweta Sehrawat topping the charts with a whopping 297 runs. Spinners Parshavi Chopra (12 wickets) and Mannat Kashyap (nine) were among the leading wicket-takers at the tournament. India coach Nooshin Al Khadeer said there were even contributions from the entire squad.