World T20: Rain blows away Indian women’s hope as Pakistan win
Led by Sidra Ameen's 26, Pakistan women’s cricket team defeated India by two runs with the help of some rain in the World T20 match at Delhi on Saturday. Batting first, the hosts managed only 96/7, but were in for a chance with Pakistan at 77/6 in 16 overs before rain put paid to their hopes.
Brief Scores: India 96/7 in 20 overs (Veda Krishnamurthy 24(19), Harmanpreet Kaur 16(29), Anam Amin 1/9) lost to 77/6 in 16 overs Pakistan (Sidra Ameen 26(26), Nahida Khan 14(15), Harmanpreet Kaur 1/9) by two runs (D/L)
Chasing 97, Pakistan got off to a brilliant start scoring nine runs – a score which India took seven overs to reach
Even though they lost Nahida Khan, Pakistan continued their aggressive play with Sidra Ameen taking the role of the aggressor. Sidra and Bismah Maroof added 29 runs for the second wicket to put the away side in a comfortable position, but India once again struck at a crucial moment to remove Sidra Ameen with Rajeshwari Gayakwad cleaning up the right-hander after a run-a-ball 26. Bismah Maroof departed the next over as Harmanpreet Kaur removed the left-hander with Jhulan Goswami taking a good overhead catch at mid-off to leave Pakistan at 50/3.
Needing 47 in the last ten overs, Muneeba Ali and Iram Javed took the attack to the Indian bowlers by smashing Poonam Yadav for two boundaries in the 11th over. Jhulan Goswami broke the 21-run partnership between the duo and removed Iram Javed in the 15th over to give India a foot in the door. After missing a couple of run-out chances and a stumping one, Indian wicketkeeper Sushma Verma turned the match on its head in the 16th over with two back-to-back run-outs.
With India looking on the ascendancy and Pakistan needing 20 off 24 balls, rain paid a visit to the ground to blow away India’s hopes of a win.
(Read how the Indian men's team defeated Pakistan for the eleventh time in an ICC event)
Earlier, Pakistan skipper Sana Mir won the toss and opted to send India to bat on a dry and slow wicket at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi. India kept faith with the team that beat Bangladesh by 72 runs in the opening game while Pakistan made two changes to the team that lost against West Indies by four runs.
The runs were hard to come by in the initial overs with off-spinner Anam Amin and pacer Asmavia Iqbal keeping the Indians on a tight leash. With just three runs coming in the first two overs, the pressure was building up on the Indian openers. Vellaswamy Vanitha lost her patience and jumped out of the crease in search of quick runs in the third over, only to smash it to Pakistan captain Sana Mir at midwicket.
The hosts were two down shortly as youngster Smriti Mandhana once again departed without giving much trouble to the scorers. The left-hander, who was out for a duck against Bangladesh, returned to the pavilion after Asmavia Iqbal trapped her right in front of the stumps for one. The run drought for the hosts at the Kotla continued as India made just seven runs in the powerplay and was also made to
Skipper Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur joined hands for the third wicket and slowly took the team out of the woods with a 29-run partnership off 47 balls. When the hosts were starting to looking comfortable in the middle, Pakistan captain Sana Mir introduced Nida Dar into the attack, and the off-spinner delivered for her team by giving India a sucker punch with her second delivery. Mithali Raj went after a full toss on the middle stump and perished for 16 off 35 at deep midwicket after sending the ball straight to Sidra Ameen.
Harmanpreet Kaur also returned to the pavilion shortly after the skipper’s departure, going for another big shot off Sadia Yousuf, only to find Sidra Ameen at long off. A quick-fire 24 from Veda Krishnamurthy off 19 balls pushed India’s scoring rate up, but the rival skipper turned her arms over to end the dangerous looking innings. Shikha Pandey and Jhulan Goswami added 16 runs in the last two overs to help India reach 96/7 at the end of 20 overs.
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