The Indian women’s team defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by 7 wickets in their second match of ICC Women’s World T20 2018 tournament played at Providence Stadium, Guyana just finished a few moments ago. After winning the toss, despite dropping so many catches, India restricted Pakistan to 133 for 7 in 20 overs and then chased down the target with ease.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and decided to field first. Reddy picked the wicket of Ayesha Zafar in the very first over itself. Jemimah Rodrigues run out Umaima Sohail for 3 runs to put Pakistan under pressure at 10 for 2. Captain Javeria Khan played some positive strokes. At the end of 6 overs, Pakistan scored 30 for 2. Javeria Khan was also run out for 17.
The left-handed batter Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar steadied the Pakistan innings with some brilliant stroke play. Both of them were lucky as Indian fielders dropped catches. Maroof reached her half-century off 44 balls while Dar reached her fifty off 34 balls. Both of them added 93 runs for the 4th wicket. Maroof was dismissed for 53 while Dar got out for 52. Pakistan has given 10 runs penalty on running for the pitch. Pakistan posted 133 for 7 in 20 overs. For India, Hemalatha and Poonam Yadav took 2 wickets each.
Chasing 134 runs to win, Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana got the team off to a steady start scoring 38 runs in the first 6 overs. After the power play overs, both of them continued playing good strokes. Bismah Maroof struck dismissing Mandhana for 26. Indian openers added 73 runs for the opening wicket. Mithali Raj showed her class and made the batting look easy. Rodrigues scored 16 off 21 balls. Raj reached her half-century off 42 balls. She made 56. India won the match by 7 wickets with 6 balls to spare.
India 137 for 3 in 19 overs ( Mithali Raj 56, Mandhana 26, Kaur 14*, Nida Dar 1/17) beat
Pakistan 133 for 7 in 20 overs ( Bismah Maroof 53, Nida Dar 52, Poonam Yadav 2/22, Hemalatha 2/34) by 7 wickets.
Pakistan captain Javeria Khan said: We were told to play fearless cricket. Bismah and Nida Dar played brilliant shots putting pressure on Indian bowlers. The 10 runs penalty did not help our cause. If we had executed our plans, we could have done better.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said: It was a good performance by our team. We need to improve as a fielding unit. Despite going for runs, the batters did a great job to finish the job for our team. Mandhana spent time at the crease and could a long way in helping her to settle.
Player of the match Mithali Raj: I enjoy opening the batting for India. Chasing puts a little pressure to keep the run rate. We will play the semi-finals but need to put our A game in the knockout rounds. Going forward playing, we need to do our best.
The ever-cool @M_Raj03 guided her country home with 56 runs from 47 balls, earning Player of the Match honours as India seized control of Group B #WT20 pic.twitter.com/NAFsUDD0JH
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) November 11, 2018
India women registered their 2nd win of the tournament. Their next match will be played on 15th November against Ireland.
