Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma shine as India crush Pakistan in T20 World Cup

EDGBASTON: India began their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in dominant fashion, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by 64 runs in a Group Stage encounter. After posting a challenging total of 170 runs, India’s bowlers restricted Pakistan to just 106 in 17 overs, delivering a commanding all-round performance. Deepti Sharma was the star with the ball, claiming five wickets for just 10 runs in her four-over spell to break Pakistan’s chase and seal a comfortable victory for India.

For Pakistan, opener Muneeba Ali was the only batter who made a significant contribution, scoring 41 runs off 35 balls. Other batters failed to make an impact. Gull Firoza scored 12 off 9 balls, Ayesha Zafar made 12 off 8 balls, Saira Jabeen scored 2 off 3 balls, and Natalia Parvaiz managed only 7 runs from 13 balls. Pakistan captain Fatima Sana was dismissed without scoring. Rameen Shamim scored 4 runs off 6 balls before being dismissed. Aliya Riaz scored 18 runs off 17 balls, Tasmia Rubab scored 0 off 2 balls, and Nashra Sandhu made 4 runs off 5 balls.

Apart from Deepti Sharma, Shree Charani took three wickets and Shafali Verma picked up one wicket for India.

Batting first, India scored 170 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs. Opener Smriti Mandhana was the top scorer with a brilliant half-century, making 68 runs off 44 balls. India lost Shafali Verma (6 off 5 balls) and Jemimah Rodrigues (1 off 7 balls) early. However, Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur steadied the innings with a strong partnership. The duo added 91 runs from 63 balls for the third wicket, helping India accelerate the scoring rate. Harmanpreet scored 36 runs off 35 balls.

Bharti Fulmali scored 1 run off 3 balls before getting out. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh contributed a quick 34 runs from 17 balls. Deepti Sharma remained unbeaten on 12 runs off 9 balls, while Shreyanka Patil stayed not out on 1 run. For Pakistan, Sadia Iqbal and captain Fatima Sana took two wickets each, while Tasmia Rubab and Rameen Shamim picked up one wicket each.