Dubai: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur struck a vital 24-ball 29 as India eked out a six-wicket win over traditional rivals Pakistan in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup match here Sunday.
With the ball, a disciplined India restricted Pakistan to 105 for eight but then adopted an overcautious approach while batting before Harmanpreet helped them achieve the target of 106 in 18.5 overs and register their first win of the tournament.
Harmanpreet, though, retired hurt with India on the verge of victory.
India Arundhati Reddy was announced ‘Player of the Match’ for picking three wickets.
Earlier, Pakistan Women have won the toss and opted to bat. They scored 105/8 in 20 overs, with Nida Dar (28), Muneeba Ali (17) and Fatima Sana (13) contributed some runs.
For India, Arundhati Reddy took three wickets, Shreyanka Patil picked two wickets, and Renuka Singh, Deepti Sharma, and Asha Sobhana clinched one wicket each.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will need to turn their fortunes around quickly after suffering a 58-run defeat to New Zealand in their first encounter. The Women in Blue, who were favourites to win the title, must now win all three of their remaining matches if they are to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.
Pakistan, on the other hand, started the T20 World Cup on a high after beating Sri Lanka by 31 runs in a low-scoring affair in which captain Fatima Sana led from the front, taking 2 wickets for 10 runs and also scoring a crucial 30-run knock.
Although India have a dominant 12-3 record in the T20 format, the Women in Green will certainly have the edge as Team India fight for survival.
India and Pakistan Playing XI
Pakistan XI:
Muneeba Ali Siddiqi (WK), Gull Feroza, Sidra Amin, Omaima Sohail, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana Khan (C), Tuba Hassan, Nashra Sundhu, Sadia Iqbal, Syeda Aroob Shah (In for Diana Baig).
India XI:
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Deepti Sharma, Sajana Sajeevan (In for Pooja Vastrakar), Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Singh Thakur.
