IND-W vs PAK-W, Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024: India ride Smriti-Shafali’s opening stand to beat Pakistan
Smriti Mandhana scored 45 runs off 31 balls while Shafali Verma managed 40 off 29 as India won the Group A match by seven wickets. Get IND-W vs PAK-W scores.
Cricket
The Indian women’s cricket team beat Pakistan by seven wickets in its opening Group A match of the Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Sri Lanka on Friday.
Courtesy the win, India, currently third in the women’s T20 cricket rankings, go to the top of Group A with two points from one outing.
World No. 8 Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first. Nida Dar and Co, however, were bundled out for 108 in 19.2 overs. Sidra Amin top-scored with 25 runs while Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma scalped three wickets.
In reply, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put together an opening partnership of 85 runs to headline a dominant victory for the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian cricket team.
The Indian bowling attack controlled the innings from the start. Pacer Pooja Vastrakar sent Pakistani openers Gull Feroza and Muneeba Ali packing in consecutive overs.
Aliya Riaz and Nida Dar soon followed with Pakistan struggling at 59/4 in the 12th over. The five Indian bowlers kept the scoring rate under control in the middle overs while scalping wickets regularly with only Sidra Amin (25 off 35) offering any sort of resistance.
Tuba Hassan (22 off 19) and Fatima Sana (22 off 16) stitched together a 31-run partnership in the second half of the innings to help Pakistan to a total of 108.
Shreyanka Patil (2/14) and Renuka Singh (2/14) were the most economical bowlers while Deepti Sharma was India’s leading wicket-taker with a spell of 3/20.
Indian openers Mandhana and Verma, on the other hand, batted aggressively in the powerplay and put together 57 runs. Mandhana (45 off 31) smashed five boundaries in the eighth over before getting caught in the 10th over, ending an 85-run stand.
Verma (40 off 29) was stumped two overs later and Dayalan Hemalatha (14 off 11) departed soon after but Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur completed the run chase with 35 balls to spare.
The Indian women’s cricket team will play United Arab Emirates (UAE) next on Sunday.
IND-W vs PAK-W Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 scores: Pakistan 108/10 in 19.2 overs (Sidra Amin 25, Fatima Sana 22; Deepti Sharma 3/20) lost to India 109/3 in 14.1 overs (Smriti Mandhana 45, Shafali Verma 40; Syeda Aroob Shah 2/9) by seven wickets.