India’s wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, second right, celebrates the wicket of Pakistan’s captain Fatima Sana, left, with her teammates during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 match between Pakistan and India at Dubai International Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP/PTI)
On the positive side, India managed to get their first win of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, edging past Pakistan in front of a good crowd at the Dubai International Stadium. But, in the end, you couldn’t help but wonder if they missed a chance to improve their Net Run Rate, as they achieved the target of 106 off 18.5 overs with six wickets to spare.
After batting just one match at No 3, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was back to her more familiar No 4 position and she struck a vital 24-ball 29. But what transpired before that was a slow-go approach from India’s top order that saw them hit no boundaries in the powerplay. With the ball, a disciplined Indian attack restricted Pakistan to 105/8, and even though the pitch was sluggish, and boundary-hitting was hard, they might be left rueing this missed opportunity to repair the damage that was caused by New Zealand’s massive win in the opener.
There would be some concern over the fitness of their captain too as Harmanpreet retired hurt with India on the verge of victory. She walked off holding her neck after struggling to reach back into the crease to avoid getting stumped.
Shafali Verma made 32 off 35 balls at the top of the order but struggled in the powerplay as did the usually free-flowing Smriti Mandhana. India managed to hit only three boundaries in the first 17 overs of their run-chase.
Earlier, the Indian bowling unit fired in unison against a Pakistan batting lineup which also struggled to find the boundaries, but not for a lack of trying. Having conceded 160 against New Zealand on a slow track under lights in their opener, the Indian bowlers read the pitch well, and more importantly, took the pace off deliveries to make stroke-making all the more difficult.
India’s Shafali Verma plays a shot during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 match between Pakistan and India at Dubai International Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP/PTI)
Seamers Renuka Singh Thakur (1/23) and Arundhati Reddy (3/19) picked up the bulk of the wickets, while off-spinners Deepti Sharma (1/24) and Shreyanka Patil (2/12) got enough grip to keep the Pakistani batters in check.
Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana (1/24) went for a few boundaries but got rival skipper Fatima Sana with a big leg-break after the batter was brilliantly snapped by Richa Ghosh behind the stumps. Asha, however, struggled on the field, dropping two simple catches — both of Arundhati’s bowling.
Renuka bowled a tight first over and her inswinger had Gull Feroza (0) bowled through the gate. Deepti bounced back well from 0/45 against New Zealand, bowling two tight overs in the powerplay. Sidra Amin (8 off 11 balls), who wanted to get a move on, tried to slog sweep one but the ball bounced off her pads and rolled onto the stumps.
Pakistan managed 29/2 in the powerplay and the Indian bowlers increased their stranglehold on the opposition batters. Arundhati, who was declared the player of the match, picked up Omaima Sohail soon after the powerplay. A wicket-maiden from Shreyanka Patil kept Pakistan to 41/4 at the halfway stage. Nida Dar fought a hard battle in the middle order and pushed Pakistan beyond 100 but it wasn’t to be enough.
(With inputs from PTI)
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 06-10-2024 at 20:03 IST
