West Indies U19 Square Series after Historic USA Win in First Game in Florida

USA skipper Geetika Kodali won the toss and chose to bowl first having won the toss. There was a good start to proceedings by Snigdha Paul giving just one run from the first over.  She was meticulous with her line and length and did not offer any width to hit.  Captain Kodali operated well in tandem with her North Carolina team mate Bhumika who ended up picking 2 good wickets. USA Spinners also worked magic through the middle overs as Sai Eyyuni and Ritu Singh both bowled wicket taking deliveries regularly. Ritu Singh ended with 3 wickets for just 8 runs off her 3 overs. Sai bowled 4 overs and took a solitary wicket however it could have been 2 wickets in 2 balls if not for a dropped chance.

USA bowlers kept getting the wickets to apply pressure on their opposition and restricted West Indies to 79 from their allotted 20 overs meaning USA would require 4 runs an over. Djenaba Joseph top scored with 27 off 44 deliveries, Shalini Samaroo, the opener was the only other batter to cross double digits at 16 off 27 deliveries and she was stumped by Anika Kolan from the bowling of Bhadriraju.

USA’s chase got off to a flyer with 17 runs in first 2 overs, with the only saving grace was the wicket of Chetna Prasad caught in the covers off K Mitchell’s outswing delivery. Disha Dhingra, the other opener steadied the ship with her 11 off 20 deliveries. She was run out with a direct hit to the stumps. Snigdha Paul was also other victim of good presence of mind by Zaida James, who caught a no ball off of her own bowling and ran Paul out.

Lisa Ramjit, the experienced campaigner departed for 2 off 13 but then walking in tall came the Skipper Geetika Kodali, who calmed the nerves by hitting 2 quick boundaries and stamped her authority on the game. She walked in at 46 for the loss of 5 wickets and ensured that no other wicket fell before USA crossed the line and brought a historic win over a full member nation in their first attempt. Geetika remained unbeaten on run a ball 13 laden with 3 boundaries. Tya Gonsalves batted very nicely to end with 21 off 25 deliveries.

The SMK Global Player of the match Ritu Singh for her spell of 3 wickets for just 8 runs.

In the second day-night encounter, West Indies scored steadily around 4 runs an over and lost just 1 wicket in the first 10 overs. Shalini Samaroo batted through the innings, finishing not out on 40 off 55 balls. Asabi Callender played a brilliant cameo at the end with 20 off 12 balls which included 3 boundaries. Djenaba Joseph and Zaida James carved two partnerships with Samaroo and took the total to 100.

In reply, USA chase never picked up any momentum as they kept losing wickets and were 25 for 5 after 8.1 overs. Then the fightback came as Geetika Kodali who remained unbeaten on 24 off 21 deliveries, stitched partnerships with Snigdha Paul (13 off 15) and Suhani Thadani (12 off 12). Needing only 5 runs off the final three balls to clinch victory, USA could only manage 3 runs to fall short by just 1 run.

KD Jazz Mitchell and Shalini Samaroo were two of the standout performers for the Caribbean side but it was Mitchell who ran away with the SMK Global Player of the Match award for her game-defining 4-1-8-3 bowling performance.

Both teams meet again on Thursday for the first morning encounter at the Broward County Stadium. First ball is at 10:30am ET. All matches will be streamed via the USA Cricket YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/USACricket