PTI
Sylhet, October 7
India’s batters bungled in a straightforward chase as Pakistan recorded their first win over the arch-rivals in six years with a 13-run victory in the Women’s Asia Cup here today.
India, the most formidable team in Asia, batted poorly to be all out for 124 in 19.4 overs after Pakistan had posted 137/6.
For Pakistan, it was a remarkable turnaround after their shock loss to Thailand on Thursday.
Prior to this game, India enjoyed a 10-2 win-loss record over Pakistan, whose previous win over their neighbours came way back in the 2016 T20 World Cup in New Delhi.
At 65/5, India were in big trouble as a majority of their batters, including star player Smriti Mandhana (17 off 19 balls), got out cheaply.
Pooja Vastrakar (5 off 8) was run out after attempting a run off a misfield, while Dayalan Hemalatha (20 off 22) let her team down after not capitalising on a good start.
Questions were raised over skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s fitness as she came in to bat at No. 7 before perishing cheaply.
“I think in the middle we were trying to give other batters a chance. That cost us today. It was a chaseable target. In the middle overs, we were not able to rotate the strike,” a dejected Kaur said after the match.
With India needing 61 off the last six overs, Pakistan were the favourites to pull off an unexpected win.
Richa Ghosh (26 off 13), who had to be taken off the field after suffering a heatstroke during Pakistan’s innings, brought India back into the game with three sixes before getting caught in the 19th over. Her dismissal effectively ended India’s hopes.
With six points each, Pakistan and India are now level on points. However, India occupy the top spot because of a superior net run-rate. “It was a very important game for us after yesterday. We executed the things very well. We just wanted to take calculated risks,” Pakistan skipper Maroof said.
Brief scores: Pakistan: 137/6 in 20 overs (Dar 56*, Maroof 32; Sharma 3/27); India: 124 all out in 19.4 overs (Ghosh 26; Dar 2/32).
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