India began their Women’s Asia Cup 2024 campaign with a comprehensive win over archrivals Pakistan on Friday at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Sri Lanka.
Needing 109 to win, India chased down the target in 14.1 overs with the loss of three wickets as opening batter Smriti Mandhana smashed 45 off 31 deliveries.
She and Shafali Verma made the chase look easy as they posted a 85-run partnership before Syeda Arooba Shah dismissed Mandhana in the 10th over.
Verma fell after adding 40 off 29 deliveries while Dayalan Hemalatha contributed 14 runs in the chase.
India’s skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues remained unbeaten as they chased down the target with 35 balls to spare.
Earlier, Pakistan were bowled out for a modest total as India’s bowlers seared through their batting lineup in their Women’s Asia Cup 2024 clash.
Pakistan captain Nida Dar won the toss and elected to bat first, however, they could not post a challenging total and were bundled out on 108 in the final over.
The top order of Green Shirts tumbled inside the powerplay as opener Gull Feroza was dismissed in the second over with just nine runs on the board.
Her batting partner Muneeba Ali soon joined her in the dressing room after she fell in the fourth over of their inning. She managed to contribute 11 off 11 to the total.
Sidra Amin then took charge of Pakistan’s batting, playing a fighting knock to stabilise the inning. She put together brief partnerships with Muneeba Ali (11), Aliya Riaz (6) and skipper Nida Dar (8) before her dismissal in the 13th over after her 35-ball 25.
Later, Tuba Hassan and Fatima Sana scored valuable runs for the team with a fighting seventh-wicket partnership.
The two added 31 runs to the total before Deepti Sharma got rid of Tuba in the 18th over. She scored 22 off 19 deliveries.
Her dismissal was followed by the three quick wickets as Pakistan were bowled out for 108 in 19.2 over.
Fatima Sana remained unbeaten with 16-ball 22, that included one four and two sixes.
For India, Deepti Sharma bagged with three wickets while Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Shreyanka Patil picked up two each.
Pakistan XI: Nida Dar (c), Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tuba Hassan.
India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh.
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