Unbeaten India to lock horns with South Africa to defend U19 WC title

Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], February 1 (ANI): The Indian Cricket team will lock horns against South Africa in the final of the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup 2025 in Malaysia on Sunday with the aim of defending their title.
The final match is scheduled to be held at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 12:00 PM IST on Sunday.
India stands just one step from winning successive ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup titles after winning the South Africa edition of the tournament in 2023, where it defeated England by 7 wickets.
South Africa, on the other hand, will be making their first appearance in the U19 Women's T20 World Cup final. They were knocked out in the group stage of the inaugural edition of the tournament.
The winner of the India vs South Africa cricket final on Sunday will become the first team to win the U19 Women's T20 World Cup undefeated.
Led by skipper Niki Prasad, India registered convincing wins against Sri Lanka, West Indies and hosts Malaysia, in the group matches before beating Bangladesh and Scotland in the Super Six. In the semi-finals, they got the better of England to book a berth in the final.
Indian opener Gongadi Trisha is the top-scorer in the tournament with 265 runs in six matches at an average of 66.25 and a strike rate of 149.71. She created history in the Super Six encounter against Scotland by registering the first-ever century (110* off 59 balls) in the U19 Women's T20 World Cup.
Vaishnavi Sharma is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 15 scalps, including a hat-trick against Malaysia in the group stage. Her hat-trick was India's first at the U19 Women's T20 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Kayla Reyneke-led South Africa beat Nigeria, New Zealand and Samoa in the group stage and then went on to defeat Ireland in the Super Six, which also saw their other match against the USA abandoned. South Africa beat Australia by five wickets in the semi-finals.
Jemma Botha and Simone Lourens have been their best batters having accumulated 89 and 71 runs, respectively, while skipper Kayla Reyneke has been their standout bowler with 10 wickets so far.
In the last five matches between India and South Africa's U19 teams, the Indian cricket team has won four times while one match was abandoned. (ANI)