Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana and the bowlers led India to a comprehensive 107-run win over Pakistan in their opening match of the 2022 Women’s World Cup. Vastrakar and Rana put on a vital 122-run partnership for the seventh wicket to lay the foundation for a massive victory over the arch-rivals. Vastrakar turned the tide in India’s favor with a 59-ball 67 when he was dismissed for just 114 for six. Rana also made an important contribution of 53 not out.
Chasing a tough target of 245 runs, the Pakistan batsmen failed to give the Indian team any fight as they were bundled out for just 137 runs in 43 overs. Rajeshwari Gaikwad was the bowlers’ choice as the left-arm spinner took four wickets. While Jhulan Goswami and Sneh Rana took two wickets each.
With this win, the Indian women’s team has maintained its unbeaten record against Pakistan. He has played 11 matches so far and has won all.
There was pressure on India to bat after opener Shafali Verma was dismissed for zero. A 92-run partnership between Mandhana (52 off 75) and Deepti Sharma (40) helped stabilize the ship. However, Pakistan bounced back with a flurry of wickets including the scalps of skipper Mithali Raj (9) and her deputy Harmanpreet Kaur (5).
Young wicketkeeper-batsman Richa Ghosh also failed to score big and Nida Dar dismissed her for just 1 run. Vastrakar and Rana joined hands in the middle and played with a lot of responsibility to take their team to a challenging total. Vastrakar suffered a leg injury, but despite this he continued to play and scored a crucial half-century.
Pakistan began the chase with an overly cautious stance, leading to their defeat. Openers Sidra Amin and Javeria Khan scored just 6 runs in the first 6 overs. The required run-rate kept increasing with each passing over as the pressure on the batsmen was increasing. Gaikwad dismissed Javeria for 11 to give India the first breakthrough and then wickets kept coming for him at regular intervals.
Pacer Diana Baig was the highest scorer for Pakistan with an innings of 24 and she also took the final wicket of the match which sealed the winner for India.
Brief Scores: India Women 244/7 in 50 overs (Pooja Vastrakar 67, Sneh Rana 53 not out; Nashra Sandhu 2/36) beat Pakistan (Sidra Ameen 30, Diana Baig 24; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 4/31) by 107 runs.
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