Women's U19 World Cup: Captain Shafali shines with ball as India beat Australia in warmup

Captain Shafali Verma picked up three wickets as India successfully defended a low score against Australia in their first warmup match of the U19 Women's T20 World Cup at the Steyn City School Oval.

Batting first, India had a horror outing as Australia restricted them to a meagre 97/8 in 20 overs. After a top order collapse, wicketkeeper Hrishita Basu top scored for India with a 39-ball-28 to guide the team to a fighting total.

The only other batters to reach double figures for India were Shafali Verma (10), Richa Ghosh (11), and Archana Devi (11*).

The running between the wickets proved to be the Achilles' heel for India as five out of their eight wickets, including Ghosh and Basu were run outs.

However, it was India's bowling unit which stood out. Defending a modest score, skipper Shafali Verma (4-1-8-3) and Prashvi Chopra (3-0-14-2) picked up five wickets among themselves as they restricted Australia to 79/7 to register a 18-run victory.

Soumya Tiwari was the other wicket taker and finished with figures of 2-0-10-1.

India will now take on Bangladesh in their second warmup match on Wednesday.