India maintained their impressive rule over Pakistan in Women’s ODI cricket with an excellent 88-run victory at Khettarama Stadium in the Women’s World Cup. India declared on 247 for 9, then bowled Pakistan out for 159, thus achieving an astonishing record versus their friendly rivals of 12-0 in this format.
Kranti Goud was brilliant with the ball for India while Pakistan batted. She bowled an impressive 3 for 20 in nine overs to dampen the effort with consistent spells. Sidra Amin was the leading scorer with an admirable 81 runs from 106 balls for Pakistan but simply ran out of partners as the run rate became unreachable.
The Indian innings saw a great overall team effort in tough conditions to bat. Harleen Deol lead with just 46 runs while Richa Ghosh went big batting at No. 8 and finished India on the total with an unbeaten 35 runs from 20 balls. India did not even register one partnership above 50 runs and now set what will be the highest total in Women’s ODI cricket without a 50-run partnership.
Pakistan’s bowling attack, spearheaded by Diana Baig (4-69) and Fatima Sana (2-38), kept the Indian batters at bay for lengths of time, but India were able to stay slightly ahead of the run rate throughout the innings. Sadia Iqbal (2-38) bowled well and was able to help keep Pakistan from spiralling too fast away from the run rate as well.
In a chase of 248, Pakistan began poorly as Goud and Renuka Singh, who was playing in place of Amanjot Kaur, bowled tightly. The unfortunate run-out of Muneeba Ali, when she momentarily raised her bat off the ground returning to her crease, added to Pakistan’s troubles, and none of the players or officials had ever seen anything like it, either.
Amin attempted to give Pakistan some hope with a good innings, which allowed the innings to keep ticking. Natalia Pervais also pitched in with a good knock (33 off 46) but Pakistan was never able to get any momentum or run rate at any stage. Pakistan lost important wickets at key times, including Amin and others in the expensive last overs, to hand India a comfortable win.
India is now not only at the top of the points table, but head of cup tournament favorites Australia, as Pakistan continues its winless start to the tournament after two matches.
Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of India, noted the difficulty of the pitch which was “not an easy pitch to bat on” according to Jemimah Rodrigues at half-time. It was India’s controlled bowling and pace in their middle and lower order that ended up winning them the match. The outcome of this match underlined India’s dominance in the regional rivalry while also gaining confidence going into the Women’s World Cup campaign.
Match Summary:
- India: 247 all out (Harleen Deol 46, Richa Ghosh 35*, Diana Baig 4-69, Fatima Sana 2-38)
- Pakistan: 159 all out (Sidra Amin 81, Kranti Goud 3-20, Deepti Sharma 3-45, Sneh Rana 2-38)
- Result: India won by 88 runs.
As both teams retreat to the drawing board, India will look to build on their current success while Pakistan will be looking for their campaign to register their first win.
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