England captain Grace Scrivens is hoping to score it a hat-trick for the first time from the women’s side when she leads her side in Sunday’s U19 World Cup final against India.
England, led by Rachael Heyhoe Flint, won the first-ever Women’s World Cup in 1973, while Charlotte Edwards led them to glory at the inaugural Women’s T20 World Cup in 2009.
Today, history once again comes to life in the first edition of the U19 T20 Women’s World Cup, where England, unbeaten in the competition, face India in the final at Potchefstroom.
They booked their place in the final after biting their nails three-point semi-final win over Australia – a game they long seemed to lose.
“The whole team has this never say die attitude,” said Scrivens, 19, who was born in Kent.
“We always try to stay in the fight and Chris Guest, our coach, has been a fundamental part of that.
“He always talks to us about taking the positive options, which is really influential.”
Every ounce of that attitude was needed to defeat Australia in the semi-finals, having dropped to 99 all – easily their worst batting performance of the tournament.
“The game was amazing and filled with so many highs and lows that kept us all on our toes,” Scrivens said.
“Going onto the pitch having only put 90 on the board was tough, but we have that mindset to support each other and support each other and we knew we could defend that total.
“It was this belief that we kept throughout that we could win.
“Our rotational attack was really good [in the semi-final]. Hannah Baker played incredibly well, taking three wickets, but India are going to have good spinners, so we’re going to have to deal with that.”
Scrivens admits Friday’s game was closer than expected but assures nothing will change in the way they approach their cricket.
“We’re delivering the same message that we’ve had all along,” Scrivens said. “We don’t want to let go of the fact that we want to play with a positive mindset and a positive intention and continue this fearless cricket.
“We won’t let Friday’s collapse affect that in any way.”
For Scrivens, who is in contention for player of the tournament and could also finish top of the scoring charts, these aren’t personal milestones.
“Winning is the main thing,” she said. “Obviously I want to score points to help the team, but as long as we get the win that’s all that matters.”
So, does she still dare to dream of emulating Heyhoe Flint and Edwards by winning an inaugural women’s title as England captain?
“We don’t want to think too much about the future,” Scrivens said. “We are in the final and we have a chance to win, but we want to focus on what we can control and if we play our best cricket we can be very well placed.”
India came through their semi-final in convincing fashion beating New Zealand by eight wickets.
Their destructive flyhalf Shweta Sehrawat has been in fine form throughout the tournament and England are aware they are a danger alongside Shafali Verma at the top of the order.
“India have very good hitters and that’s something we have to look at,” Scrivens added. “If we just look at how we play and what we can control, we will be really well placed.”
India captain Verma, who has already played 74 times for the full national team, is also feeling confident ahead of the final.
“The feelings are very good because whatever our plans were, we made them in the training session,” she said.
“Everyone knows their role and is very happy and excited to play the final. We’re just going to support each other in the final, so we’re just going to enjoy it and give 100%.
“We’ve seen the England game and how they play and their batters and bowlers. We’ve got all the strategies, and we’re just going to execute those things.”
