IND v PAK Women’s World T20 Review: Pakistan breaks Indian hearts

The Pakistan women overwhelmed the hosts India by 2 runs (Duckworth-Lewis method) on a difficult batting track at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Rain made a disappointing intervention as it seemed as though the Pakistan women had maybe just escaped the Indian bowling onslaught. The Indian women now sit mid-table in the group standings and qualification to the next stage a country mile away.

Batting first, the Indians lost Vellaswamy Vanitha and Smriti Mandhana to some tight bowling from the Pakistani opening bowlers. The Pakistani fielders, in particular, succeeded in creating the required pressure on the batsmen by preventing the ball from reaching the boundary. Vanitha’s valiant attempt at breaking the shackles saw her clip the ball to Pakistan skipper Sana Mir. Disaster struck for the Indians soon after as the in-form Smriti Mandhana was trapped by the wily Asmavia Iqbal.

Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur tried their level best to lead a revival only for the Pakistani fielders to once again close in on them. With the pressure getting unbearable, the Indian run rate dropped to a little less than two runs an over. The Indians were thrust into a crisis they would eventually not come out of as Mithali Raj was caught at mid wicket. Barely three over later, India’s best batman Harmanpreet Kaur also lost her composure and consequently her wicket.

Veda Krishnamurthy began an unprecedented onslaught on the Pakistan bowlers. She hammered three boundaries in her innings of 24. However, despite Veda’s heroics, the Indians failed to cross the psychological 100 run mark. In their quota of 20-overs, the Indians managed just 96 for the loss of 7 wickets.

In contrast to the Indian’s innings, the Pakistan women began their innings on a rather bright note. Nahida Khan plundered 9 runs off the fir over bowled by Anuja Patil. Despite Nahida losing her wicket in the third over, the damage had been done. Sidra Ameen’s run-a-ball 26 ensured that the Pakistan women had indeed laid the foundation for the innings. However, little did they expect the fight back the Indians produced. Bismah Maroof fell the very next over after the fall of Sidra Ameen after chipping one to Jhulan Goswami at mid-on.

After blasting just the one boundary from Muneeba Ali, the Indians managed to stem the flow of runs. Iram Javed wa left shell shocked after she was snapped up by Mithali Raj positioned at short cover. After a few goof-ups with the running between wickets, Asmavia Iqbal (5) and skipper Sana Mir were dismissed in quick succession. The rain, however, made a timely intervention as Nida Dar made her way to the middle. With barely a few minutes left for the cut-off time, the match was called off and the match was awarded to Pakistan.

Brief Scores

India: 96/7 in 20 overs (Veda 24; Amin 1/9)

Pakistan: 77/6 in 16 overs (Sidra Ameen 26; Kaur 1/9)

Women of the match: Anam Amin