India narrowly defeat Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup, remain in contention for semi-finals

Despite a slow start at the end of the powerplay, the Indian camp was not concerned with their net run rate. They struggled to score just 25 runs in six overs, failing to hit any boundaries and losing a wicket in the process. In the end, they were happy to secure the victory and earn maximum points, saving their focus on net run rate for their remaining two games in Group A.

After the 58-run drubbing against New Zealand on Friday, the India women needed to put up a strong performance to regain composure and confidence. Though India managed to put it across Pakistan, it was not a performance befitting the tag of title contenders.

For their six-wicket win, credit must mainly go to their bowlers for their fine effort, helping India open their account in the tournament. In a disciplined show, both the pacers and spinners combined to build pressure on the Pakistan batters and restrict them to 105/8 after they had elected to bat.

Pacer Arundhati Reddy was the most successful as she ran through the middle-order by removing Omaima Sohail and Aliya Riaz cheaply before clean bowling Pakistan’s top-scorer Nida Dar (28) in the final over, finishing with 3/19 from her four overs to be named Player-of-the-Match. Arundhati was disappointed to see two easy catches go down off her bowling, both put down by Asha Sobhana at short fine-leg, the first one a dolly off Muneeba Ali.

The team’s batting, however, left a lot to be desired. Pakistan pushed India fully, making them fight hard for every run. The win achieved with just seven balls to spare left India’s NRR at -1.217, confining them to the fourth sport in the five-team Group A.

“We did think about it (NRR). Me and Shafali could not time the ball,” said Smriti Mandhana. “We didn’t want to end up losing a lot of wickets. We were a little calculative. The NRR is in our head,” the team vice-captain added.

Pakistan did well to shackle both India’s free-flowing openers. Mandhana timed her shots well but was unable to find the gaps and the frustration got to her when she gifted her wicket trying to chip over the off-side to be caught at point.

The first four of the innings came only in the eighth over when Shafali pulled spinner Tuba Hassan to midwicket. It was the first time since the 2016 edition that India hadn’t scored a boundary in the powerplay overs.

Teams have mostly chosen to bat in this tournament. Judging the slowness of the track, Pakistan used their spinners more and they did their job well, pitching flighted deliveries at a length that was short enough preventing the batters from freeing their arms even after using their feet. It was a test of patience for the stroke players. They had to curb their hitting instincts and focus on working the ball around for singles.

India’s move to send Jemimah Rodrigues at No.3 thus suited the situation. She focussed on rotating the strike with Shafali to add 43 valuable runs for the second wicket.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana caused a late flutter by dealing a double blow in the 16th over, picking Jemimah and Richa Ghosh off successive balls, but the positive thing for India is that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur looked in fine touch. She is one player, along with Smriti, who can take the game away against any team, including Australia.

The India skipper came into bat at No.4 and calmed the nerves with her composed approach. Her cracking hit over extra cover off Fatima Sana to bring up India’s 100 had a touch of class. During her stay at the wicket, India accelerated their scoring to 7.5-plus post the 15th over, after their first three phases had returns of 25/1 in the powerplay, 25/0 from seventh to 10th and just 29/1 from the 11th to 15th overs.

Her effort was, however, was halted by an injury in the 19th over while trying to regain the crease. She was forced to retire, walking off clutching her neck but with only two runs needed to win.

With a lot of work needed to do to make amends for the heavy 58-run defeat against New Zealand, India will be sweating over their captain’s fitness. “Too soon to say anything. Medical team is looking at it,” Mandhana said at the presentation ceremony.

India next play Sri Lanka on Wednesday in another must-win game.