India women's U-19 team entered the final of the maiden ICC Women's U-19 T20 World Cup after defeating New Zealand by eight wickets in a comfortable win in Potchefstroom on Friday.
Parshavi Chopra starred with the ball as her 3/20 bowling figure helped India restrict New Zealand at 107/9 in 20 overs. Titas Sadhu, Mannat Kashyap, Shafali Verma and Archana Devi chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Shweta Sehrawat then played a knock of 61 not out to ensure India had little difficulty in chasing down the paltry total by 14.2 overs. Shafali (10) failed with the bat on the day but Soumya Tiwari's 26-ball 22 allowed Sehrawat all the help she needed from the other end as India stormed into the final.
Skipper Shafali, however, was spot on with the decision to field first at Senwes Park with as Kashyap and Sadhu removed both the Kiwi openers Anna Browing (1) and Emma McLeod (2) by the third over.
Georgia Plimmer (35) and Isabella Gaze (26) made attempts to rebuild the New Zealand innings. However, Parshavi's spell soon broke the backbone of New Zealand middle-order with three wickets in three overs while bowling a maiden as well.
Chasing 108, India had an early blip with Shafali being removed for 10 by Browning. However, there was no stopping an in-form Sehrawat, who shot 10 fours during her 45-ball stay to ensure India remained on track for the chase.
Sehrawat finished off the match with Gongadi Trisha (5*) after Tiwari was dismissed by Browning as India finished off the game with 34 balls to spare.