IND-W vs PAK-W, Women’s T20 World Cup 2024: Harmanpreet-Shafali help India ease past Pakistan

India beat Pakistan by six wickets in their second match of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 Group A at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE on Sunday.

Electing to bat first, Pakistan lost wickets in regular intervals and managed to put up 105/8 on the board in 20 overs.

In response, the Indian women’s cricket team rode disciplined knocks from Shafali Verma and captain Harmanpreet Kaur to pick up its 13th win against Pakistan in 16 meetings.

With pacer Pooja Vastrakar missing due to a niggle and replaced by Sajeevan Sanjana in the starting XI, India were missing an experienced seamer up top. However, Renuka Singh ensured an early breakthrough for India and knocked over Gull Feroza with the final ball of the first over.

Deepti Sharma sent Sidra Amin back to the pavilion in the fifth over to deal world No. 8 Pakistan yet another blow just before the powerplay ended. Pakistan were at 29/2 after the first six overs.

India kept picking up regular wickets to keep Pakistan at bay.

After watching Asha drop Muneeba Ali at fine leg off her second delivery of the seventh over, Arundhati Reddy struck with the penultimate ball with Shafali Verma hanging on to a scoop by Omaima Sohail.

Ali, meanwhile, failed to make the most of her second chance and departed for 17. Shreyanka Patil outfoxed the Pakistani opener who was trying to up her team’s below-par scoring rate and Richa Ghosh completed a simple stumping.

The experienced Nida Dar and skipper Fatima Sana (13) tried to mount a brief resistance but the partnership was undone after Richa Ghosh pulled off a stunning catch behind the wickets off Asha Shobhana’s bowling to get rid of the Pakistani captain.

The Pakistani innings eventually folded for 105/8 in 20 overs. A late 28-run stand between Dar (28 off 34) and Syeda Aroob Shah (14 off 17) helped Pakistan cross the 100-run mark.

Pacer Arundhati Reddy, with figures of 3/19, was the pick of the bowler for the Indian women’s cricket team. All five bowlers used by Indian cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur registered on the wickets column.

India took a cautious approach to the chase. Having lost Smriti Mandhana (7) in the fifth over, the Women in Blue managed 25 on the board in the powerplay overs and added as many in the next four.

At 50/1 after 10 overs, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues looked set on the crease. India, however, needed to up their run rate and in the attempt to do so, lost Verma (32 off 35).

Harmanpreet and Jemimah kept the scoreboard ticking following Verma’s departure and India looked fairly comfortably placed at 80-2 in the 16th over. However, Sana brought her team right back into the contest by removing Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh from the board with back-to-back deliveries.

Despite the double scare, Kaur (29) and Deepti Sharma (7) steered India past the finish line with seven deliveries to spare. Kaur had to walk off retired hurt after injuring her neck to avoid a stumping but Sanjana finished off the match with a boundary off the very next ball.

It was a welcome victory for India who suffered a disappointing 58-run loss to New Zealand in their Women’s T20 World Cup opener earlier this week.

India’s next match in the T20 World Cup 2024 is against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, October 9. Defending champions Australia are the other team in the group.

IND-W vs PAK-W Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 brief scores: Pakistan 105/8 in 20 overs (Nida Dar 28; Arundhati Reddy 3/19) lost to India 108/4 in 18.5 overs (Shafali Verma 32, Fatima Sana 2/23) by six wickets.