'We were trying to give the chance to other batters, which cost us today' - Harmanpreet Kaur reveals the reason behind a defeat against Pakistan

India Women suffered a shock 13-run defeat against rivals Pakistan Women in their fourth match of the Women's Asia Cup 2022 tournament on Friday. The Indian bowlers did a good job to restrict Pakistan on 137/6 while bowling first but the batters struggled to chase the target and were bowled out on 124 runs in 19.4 overs at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

The Indian management fielded a strong eleven after experimenting with different combinations in the last two matches against Malaysia and UAE. The Indian batters managed to post 181 and 178-run totals on the scoreboard while batting first in the previous matches. So Pakistani skipper Bismah Maroof elected to bat first in the high-voltage clash. 

While chasing an easy 138-run target, India lost opener S Meghana and Jemimah Rodrigues within powerplay overs. India's biggest partnership came for the sixth wicket when in-form all-rounder Deepti Sharma and captain Harmanpreet Kaur managed to avoid a collapse. But the Indian batters kept losing wickets while trying to go for the big shots.

In the middle overs, we were not able to take singles and rotate strike: Harmanpreet Kaur

Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh came after six wickets went down and smashed 26 runs off just 13 balls with the help of three sixes to keep India's hopes alive till the end but it was not enough. Harmanpreet, who batted in the number seven position against Pakistan, stated that the management intended to give the chance to other batters in the middle order. 

“In the middle, we were trying to give the chance to other batters, which cost us today. Because you have to do that as the tournament goes on, but it backfired. It was a chaseable target. In the middle overs, we were not able to take singles and rotate strike, we played too many dot balls," said Harmanpreet in the post-match presentation.

India next face Bangladesh Women, who beat them in the final of the last edition of the tournament in 2018, with less than 24 hours to prepare themselves. The Indian management is unlikely to make the same mistake of changing batters' positions in the middle order against Bangladesh. Harmanpreet also stated that they will not be taking Bangladesh or any other team lightly.

“We are aware of that and never take any team lightly. It is a part of the game. Yesterday, Thailand played a good game. Today, they (Pakistan) played good cricket, and they came up trumps and deserved to win it. Going forward, we need to work on those areas and be strong," added Harmanpreet.