Ganesh Kendale
NEW DELHI: Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s experience helped secure a six-wicket victory for India against Pakistan in the Women’s T20 World Cup, keeping their semi-final hopes alive on Sunday. Chasing a modest target of 106 runs, India struggled but managed to clinch the win thanks to Harmanpreet’s 24-ball 29-run innings. She retired hurt with two runs needed to win, and Sajana Sajeevan, on her debut, sealed the victory with a boundary.
Opener Shafali Verma (32 off 35 balls) and No.3 Jemimah Rodrigues (23 off 28 balls) adopted a cautious approach, affecting India’s Net Run Rate (NRR) negatively.
INDIA vs PAKISTAN: As it happened
India’s current NRR stands at -1.217, below Pakistan’s -0.555. To keep semi-final hopes alive, India must win against Australia and Sri Lanka by significant margins.
The Indian innings included only five boundaries, and the top three batters struggled to accelerate. With Smriti Mandhana out early, Shafali and Jemimah focused on singles.
The heat impacted the running between the wickets, with easy doubles and triples left unattempted. Shafali’s fitness issues and Jemimah’s reliance on timing over power added pressure on the batting unit.
Harmanpreet took charge after the dismissal of Jemimah and Richa Ghosh off consecutive deliveries by Fatima.
Earlier, Indian bowlers contained Pakistan to 105 for 8. Renuka Singh Thakur (1/23) and Arundhati Reddy (3/19) maintained discipline in their line and length. Off-spinners Deepti Sharma (1/24) and Shreyanka Patil (2/12) focused on varying their pace.
Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana (1/24) took the wicket of Pakistan skipper Fatima, thanks to a sharp catch by Richa Ghosh.
India restricted Pakistan to 29 for 2 in the powerplay. Nida Dar’s 28 runs provided some resistance but were insufficient to post a challenging total. Indian bowlers delivered 58 dot balls, reflecting their control over the game.
India now needs to capitalize on this win and maintain momentum in their upcoming matches to advance to the semi-finals.
