Potchefstroom, Jan 29 (IANS): Despite finishing as runners-up in the inaugural ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup, England had something to cheer as captain and all-rounder Grace Scrivens was named Player of the Tournament after a run of stellar performances with bat and ball.
She finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer, hitting 293 runs across seven innings, just fewer than India opener Shweta Sehrawat's 297 runs. Her magnificent 93 was the highest individual score of the tournament, and the left-handed batter passed 50 three times in total during the campaign.
"Quite pleased. I never really played abroad, amazing experience and heat are something I had to deal with. Had to adapt to different conditions. We train a lot in the nets and try and put that into practice in the middle. We were gutted, our batting let us down," she said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
With the ball, Grace was superb too, taking 9 wickets and going for just 64 runs, proving a pivotal spin option for England. Her standout moment with the ball came as she completed the remarkable recovery in the semi-final to bowl out Australia, finishing that match with figures of 2-8.
"We were so good throughout the tournament going hard at the bowlers, we tried that today but didn't quite come off. All these girls are unbelievable and I absolutely loved captaining them. They (England senior team) made the trip here, awesome and really unbelievable. Really pleased with the support from the fans," she added.