India’s charge throughout was led by G Trisha, who racked up 309 runs in the tournament, well ahead of the chasing pack in that regard, while also providing a match-winning performance in the final with a spell of 3-15 and 44* with bat in hand to seal a 9-wicket victory over South Africa.

The bowling was led by a trio of left-arm orthodox spinners in Vaishnavi Sharma, Aayushi Shukla, and Parunika Sisodia, who were phenomenal in the final to stifle the South African attack.

Having won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2023, India were nonetheless clearly proud to keep their hands on the trophy thanks to their power-packed performance throughout. Niki Prasad, captain of the team, also continues to have success as leader of the unit, having won the U-19 Asia Cup in December as well.

“All of us tried to stay calm and down to earth, and stick to what our job is,” said Prasad in her post-match interview. “We wanted to go out there and show what we could do.”

“I’m feeling really happy that I’m right here, making sure India stays on top. It’s special that we are doing this for India,” she continued. “We were here to dominate, make sure India stays on top, and we want to continue this legacy of winning ICC trophies for India.”

Proteas fall short at the final hurdle

The emotions were clear to see even at the offset of the game from both sides, as the national anthems at the beginning of the match saw skipper Kayla Reyneke well up with pride and emotion. It all came to a head at the end of the match as well, as the South African team went through the motions at the end of the match.

“It’s a lot of emotions going on in the team, but I’ll never take anything away from them. We have worked very hard on this journey,” said an emotional Reyneke during the post-match presentation.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better team. It’s tough not to come away with the trophy. We’ll never go down without a fight, that’s the South African spirit. We will come back stronger.