India ease to victory over Pakistan to boost T20 World Cup hopes

India produced a solid all-round display to beat Pakistan in a high-stakes 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Group A encounter on Sunday. 

Harmanpreet Kaur’s India needed a win after their defeat to New Zealand in their opening game, and got that against neighbours Pakistan, who were slightly off the boil at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

Arundhati Reddy (3/19) and Shreyanka Patil (2/12) starred with the ball as India kept Pakistan tied down, for whom Nida Dar top-scored with 28 from 34 in a total of 105/8. 

Faced with a modest target of 106 to win, India eased to victory, aided by an excellent 32 from 35 by Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur’s 29 from 24, though the skipper was forced to retire hurt on the verge of victory. 

India took few risks in their batting effort, keeping it steady through the power play in search of their target of 106. 

Smriti Mandhana was the one wicket to fall inside the first six overs, with the opener going for 7 off 16, lured into a false shot off Sadia Iqbal. But Shafali Verma (32 off 35 balls) and Jemimah Rodrigues (23 off 28) built a solid base. 

Kaur (29 off 24) joined Rodrigues out in the middle and the pair ticked things over to make the game safe. 

After some nervous moments victory came with seven balls to spare as new batter Sajeevan Sajana (4 not out) found the boundary with her first delivery. 

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat first in front of a big crowd. 

Deepti Sharma ensured the power play went India’s way when she took the wicket of Sidra Amin (8 off 11 balls), leaving Pakistan on 29/2 after six overs, with Muneeba Ali (17 off 26) the only batter to look relatively comfortable. 

After a collapse, Pakistan managed to get to something resembling a competitive total thanks to Nida Dar (28 from 24) and Syeda Aroob Shah (14* from 17).