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India put up 117/7 in the first innings and bowled Bangladesh out for just 76 before the 20th over.
Indian captain Niki Prasad with the trophy. (PC: X)
India’s Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Asia Cup-winning captain Niki Prasad commended the ‘fantastic job’ by her bowlers and fielders against Bangladesh in the 41-run victory at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur. India put up 117/7 in the first innings, which Prasad said was ‘20 runs short’, but defended it brilliantly, with Aayushi Shukla’s 3/17 helping bowl Bangladesh out in 18.3 overs.
India’s batting effort was led by opener Gongadi Trisha’ 52 (47). She stuck at the crease even as wickets fell constantly on the other end. India were 66/3 at one stage but lower-order contributions from Mithila Vinod and Aayushi Shukla pushed the score to par.
“We felt we were a few runs short, maybe 20 runs short, but scoring 117 on this wicket is good,” Prasad said in the post-match presentation ceremony. “But we knew that we had a good bowling side and would bowl well. We were trying to stay in the game, have that intent, body language and our bowlers and fielders did a fantastic job.”
“The way G Trisha has batted, it was fabulous. I liked the approach we had, and we batted really well. She is also our mystery bowler, and she bowled really well,” Prasad added.
India struck twice in the powerplay in the second innings. Bangladesh were in the game with the score at 55/3 in the 12th over but India put on the squeeze, taking the remaining seven wickets in less than seven overs. Trisha, too, bowled three quiet overs for just 10 runs.
Prasad credited the win to her side’s calm confidence stemming from the dressing room.
“The first thing is that all of us are very calm in the dressing room and so, that brings a lot of confidence. When the batters are batting and things are not going in our side, it doesn’t matter as we are calm and that’s why we got to that score,” she said.
The Asia Cup win would give India some momentum for the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup which will be held in Malaysia from January 18 to February 2. The squad is unlikely to see many changes and Prasad will likely stay as the captain, too.
