India bowlers deliver a clinical performance as they kickstart the Women’s Asia Cup campaign with a comprehensive victory over the arch-rivals Pakistan
We witnessed a low-scoring encounter in the first game of the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2024. Nepal was up against the UAE in the tournament opener. Nepal registered their first-ever victory in the history of the Asia Cup. They defeated the UAE by six wickets. Samjhana Khadka was awarded the Player of the Match for her career-best performance (72 off 45 balls) with the bat.
Pakistan skipper Nida Dar won the toss and opted to bat first. Pakistan got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of Gull Feroza in the 2nd over of the innings. Pooja Vastrakar provided India with the first breakthrough. Sidra Amin joined wicket-keeper batter Muneeba Ali at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 17-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to lead some sort of recovery for Pakistan. Pooja Vastrakar picked up the wicket of the wicket-keeper batter Muneeba Ali to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Aliya Riaz joined Sidra Amin at the crease and the duo stitched a 15-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Shreyanka Patil picked up the wicket of Aliya Riaz to provide the 3rd breakthrough for India. Skipper Nida Dar joined Sidra Amin at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 18-run partnership for the 4th wicket. Deepti Sharma picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Nida Dar to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side.
Courtesy of double strikes from Renuka Singh in the last over of her spell, Pakistan was reduced to 61/6 in 13 overs. Fatima Sana joined Tuba Hassan at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 31-run partnership for the 7th wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark. Deepti Sharma came back and struck twice in the 18th over of the innings.
Pakistan were bundled out for 108 runs with four balls to spare. Sidra Amin (25 off 35 balls), Fatima Sana (22 off 16 balls), and Tuba Hassan (22 off 19 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Pakistan. Deepti Sharma (4-0-20-3), Renuka Singh (4-0-14-2), Shreyanka Patil (3.2-0-14-2), and Pooja Vastrakar (4-0-31-2) were the top performers with the ball for India.
Chasing a target of 109, the Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana took India on the doorstep of victory with an 85-run opening stand. The duo scored at over nine runs an over. Syeda Aroob Shah provided the first breakthrough for Pakistan. India witnessed a minor blip as they lost a couple of wickets quickly. Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur took their side over the line with seven wickets in hand and 35 balls to spare.
Smriti Mandhana (45 off 31 balls), Shafali Verma (40 off 29 balls), and Dayalan Hemalatha (14 off 11 balls) were the top performers with the bat for India. Syeda Aroob Shah (3-0-9-2), and Nashra Sandhu (4-0-20-1), were the top performers with the ball for Pakistan. Deepti Sharma was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant match-winning spell (4-0-20-3) with the ball. She played a crucial role in helping India seal a comprehensive victory against Pakistan to start their Asia Cup campaign on a high with a seven-wicket victory.