India won against Pakistan by six wickets in the highly anticipated clash at the Dubai International Stadium in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on Sunday.
The Blue Shirts were given a target of 106 runs to chase by the Fatima Sana-led side as her batters could only score 105 runs at the loss eight wickets in 20 overs.
For India, Shafali Verma and the ever reliable Smriti Mandhana opened the innings.
The openers began the innings well scoring 18 in 4.1 overs. However, on the next ball of the same over, the experienced and versatile Mandhana fell to Sadia Iqbal.
After her dismissal, Verma was joined by Jemimah Rodrigues with the former scoring the 50th run for India on the last ball of the 10th over.
India now needed 56 runs on 60 balls to clinch victory.
Unfortunately, Verma after troubling Pakistan, was also dismissed by Omaima Sohail after scoring 32 off 35 with three fours, leaving the Indian side at 61/2.
Verma’s dismissal meant that it was time for the Indian skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur, to take the charge alongside Rodrigues.
However, the skipper was soon left alone at the pitch by Rodrigues as she was caught out by wicketkeeper Muneeba Ali after scoring 23 off 28.
Rodrigues became a victim of Pakistan’s captain Sana, who had vowed a day before to continue the side’s attacking streak against India.
She fulfilled her promise as on the very next ball, she repeated her tactics and Richa Gosh became her newest target as she was caught behind the wickets leaving India stumbling at 80/4 in the 15.3 over.
India now needed 19 off 24 balls as Sana was not able to take a third wicket to register a hat-trick in the all-important clash.
Despite the commotion, Kaur stood tall and strong and smashed 29 runs off 24 balls and steered India towards victory.
She was retired hurt and the final runs required for victory were scored by Sajana Sajeevan who smashed a boundary, taking India over the line.
Earlier, Pakistan’s skipper Sana had won the toss and decided to bat first, knowing the power and capability of her bowlers.
Pakistan’s Muneeba and Gull Feroza kicked off the first innings, with Feroza getting bowled within 0.6 over after making zero runs for the team.
After the dismissal, Sidra Amin entered the stadium and scored eight runs off 11 balls.
Moreover, the third over came out to be a treat for the Women in Green, as Muneeba smashed two shots towards the boundary, adding 12 runs to the total after Renuka Singh delivered three wide balls in the over.
It was a shaky start for the Sana-led side, as the team was 41/3 within 8.5 overs.
Alongside Omaima Sohail making three runs only, the other two players were unable to score even 10 runs for the team.
Moreover, after scoring the most runs for the team, Muneeba was dismissed, making 17 off 26 balls in the 9.3 overs.
Later on, Aliya Riaz also returned to the dug out in the 12.1 over. The responsibility then lied on skipper, Sana, who seemed to be carrying the innings well but she was also dismissed by Asha Sobhana after smashing 13 off 8 deliveries including two fours.
Sana left Pakistan at 70-6 on the last ball of the 14th over, leaving the side in peril.
She was soon joined by Tuba Hassan, who after facing three balls returned without scoring in the 14.3 over.
Pakistan’s former skipper Nida Dar and Syeda Aroob Shah continued batting apprehensively and led aided their side to bat the full 20 overs.
Dar was dismissed on the second last ball of the innings after adding 28 off 34 to the scoreboard.
Aroob Shah and Nashra Sandhu culminated the innings on 105/8, posting a target defendable for Pakistan’s skilled bowlers yet easily chase-able for the fiery Indian batters.
