The Indian Women’s Cricket Team defeated Pakistan by seven wickets with 35 balls to spare in their opening game of Group A in the ACC Women’s Asia Cup 2024.
The match was being played in the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla on the evening of Friday, July 19, as Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first.
While the pitch here is supposed to crack and provide more spin as the match proceeds, the Women in Green did not take the dew caused by high humidity into account, which made the ball difficult to grip in the second inning.
India-W Defeats Pakistan-W In the 2024 Asia Cup
Pakistan didn’t get off to a particularly good start, as opener Gull Feroza was dismissed by Pooja Vastrakar in the second over of the inning. In fact, the batting side lost both their openers in the powerplay as Vastrakar picked up her second wicket in Muneeba Ali in the fourth over.
Having failed to cross the 40-run mark in the powerplay, it went from bad to worse for team Pakistan as Aliya Riaz was dismissed by spin-sensation Shreyanka Patil in the eighth over as the scoreboard now read 41/3.
Captain Nida Dar came and departed soon after, having only scored eight runs in 11 balls, and was dismissed by Deepti Sharma.
Sidra Ameen, who had held on to one end, was dismissed soon after, in the 13th over, as half of the team was dismissed for a total score of 61. On the very next ball, Iram Javed was dismissed for a duck as Renuka Singh picked her second.
A decent 31-run partnership formed from here between Tuba Hassan and Fatima Sana. But the dam gates broke once again when Hassan was dismissed for 22 in the 18th over, with the score being 92/7. In the next 13 deliveries and 16 runs, Pakistan lost their final three wickets and were all out for 108.
Check Out: India-W Defeats Pakistan-W In the 2024 Asia Cup
In-form batters Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana opened the batting for India and came out with all guns blazing, going well above the required rate. The Women in Blue were at 57/0 at the end of the powerplay.
By the time Mandhana was dismissed, India had scored 85 runs in 9.3 overs, and the match was essentially over. They did lose Shafali in the 12th over and Dayalan Hemalatha in the 13th over, but India had crossed the 100-run mark by then.
Jemimah Rodrigues and captain Harmanpreet Kaur took the team past the finish line in the 15th over as India won the match by seven wickets with 35 deliveries to spare.
For her brilliant spell of 3/20 in four overs, Deepti Sharma was named the Player of the Match.
With this win, the Indian Women’s Cricket Team has taken the lead in Group A of the Asia Cup and is in a prime position to top their group and make it to the semi-finals.
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