DUBAI, OCT 6: An all-round batting and bowling performance by India helped them beat Pakistan by six wickets as they secured their maiden victory in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
Earlier, Indian bowlers excelled with the ball and restricted Pakistan women’s team to 105 in the highly-anticipated match.
Fatima Sana’s decision to bat first backfired as her side could only accumulate 105/8 in the allotted 20 overs.
The Green Shirts had a disastrous start to their innings as they lost opener Gull Feroza in first over of the match.
Later, Sidra Amin and Omaima Sohail perished within seven overs with the scoreboard reading 33/3.
Following the early debacle, Muneeba Ali offered some fight with her cautious 17-run knock before falling victim to Shreyanka Patil, leaving Pakistan in tatters at 41/4.
Meanwhile, all-rounder Aliya Riaz also failed to reach double figures as she fell victim to Arundhati Reddy.
Skipper Sana and Nida Dar then tried to settle things down, culminating with the former’s dismissal in the 14th over.
Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals, while Dar (28) ticked the scoreboard singlehandedly until finally walking back to the dugout in the last over. Syed Aroob Shah scored a 17-ball fourteen taking the Sana-led team to 105.
Reddy bagged three wickets and Patil took two while Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma and Asha Sobhana struck out one batter apiece.
Dar remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a 34-ball 28.
Earlier, the Green Shirts won the toss and decided to bat first against the arch-rivals India.
India have to recover quickly after facing defeat against New Zealand in the opening match while the Sana-led side won against the Asia-Cup champions Sir Lanka by 31 runs on Thursday.
In regard to this match, Pakistan’s skipper, Sana while talking to ICC, said that she aims to continue the attacking brand of cricket her side has recently adapted against India.
“I have been watching that whichever team we played against — played attacking cricket,” Sana said ahead of the big contest.
Pakistan squad: Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sundhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, and Tuba Hassan.
India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, and Sajana Sajeevan.
