DUBAI: Arundhati Reddy’s three wickets followed by a combined batting effort steered India to a dominant six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the seventh match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Sunday.
While chasing a modest 106, India successfully achieved the target in 18.5 overs with Sajeevan Sajana hitting Nida Dar for a boundary.
India lost Smriti Mandhana (7) early on with 17 runs on the board, however, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues stitched a 43-run stand for the second wicket to keep the team in the hunt.
Shafali Verma top-scored with 32 runs from 35 balls before falling prey to Omaima Sohail.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana then struck twice to force her side’s comeback as she removed Jemimah Rodrigues (23) and Richa Ghosh on back-to-back deliveries.
But Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur played a 24-ball knock of 29 runs to tilt the game completely in her side’s favour before she retired hurt in the 19th over.
Deepti Sharma and Sajeevan Sajana remained unbeaten at 7 and 4 respectively as India comfortably chased the target.
Fatima Sana took two wickets, while Sadia and Omaima picked one each for Pakistan.
Pakistan opted to bat first, however, the decision backfired as Renuka Singh castled opening batter Gull Feroza (0) on the last ball of the first over.
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India soon got another success as Deepti Sharma bowled Sidra Amin (8) with 25 runs on the board.
Muneeba Ali scored a scratchy 17 from 26 balls with two boundaries before falling prey to Shreyanka Patil, leaving Pakistan reeling at 41-4.
Nida Dar held on to one end, however, wickets kept falling at the other end. Captain Fatima Sana added a valuable 13 runs from eight balls but her quick knock was ended courtesy of a brilliant catch by wicketkeeper Richa Gosh.
Pakistan were struggling at 71-7 when Syeda Aroob Shah joined Nida Dar and together they added 28 runs for the eighth wicket.
Nida Dar was bowled in the last over after scoring 28 runs from 34 balls. Nashra Sandhu faced the last two balls of the innings and struck a six to push the team’s total to 105-8.
Syeda Aroob Shah remained unbeaten at 14 runs from 17 balls which included one boundary.
For India, Arundhati Reddy returned with bowling figures of 3-19, while Shreyanka Patil claimed 2-12. Renuka Singh, Deepti Sharma and Asha Sobhana managed one wicket each.
It’s worth noting that Pakistan started their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a victory over Sri Lanka, while India suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of New Zealand.
Playing XIs:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, and Sajana Sajeevan.
Pakistan: Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sundhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, and Tuba Hassan.
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