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India cruises to victory against Pakistan
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DUBAI: India cruised to victory against Pakistan, chasing an easy target of 105 runs in Sunday’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup contest.
PAKISTAN INNINGS
It was a tough start for Pakistan, who lost a wicket in the very first over after Gull Feroza was bowled by Renuka Singh. Just three balls earlier Singh’s delivery bounced off Feroza’s front pad, but despite the huge appeal, the LBW was not given.
Pakistan looked to be building steady momentum in the following overs, with Muneeba Ali hitting a couple of fours in the third. Sidra Amin joined in, hitting a four herself, sweeping the ball behind square on the left side. Deepti Sharma wasn’t too happy about that, and put a stop to the little hope that Pakistan had found. She bowled Amin, as the ball deflected off her and onto the stumps after Amin went for another sweep.
Just two overs later, India struck again. This time it was Arundhati Reddy’s delivery which Omaima Sohail looked to hit over mid-off. However she didn’t get enough behind the swing, and it was an easy catch for Shafali Verma.
Pakistan struggled to make any sort of offense, and to make things worse, another wicket fell in the 10th over. Aliya Raiz got out three overs later, after a delivery from Reddy hit Raiz’s pad. Another huge appeal, and this time the umpire agreed.
Finally, Pakistan began to score a few runs, after Fatima Sana hit two fours back to back. On the very next ball Sana tried to get another big hit, but this time the delivery from Asha Sobhana found the thick outside edge of the bat, and some incredible reflexes from Gosh ended Sana’s innings.
Tuba Hassan was the next to fall for Pakistan. It was a three-ball duck. Hassan lined up a sweep, but the ball hit the bat’s top edge and Shafali Verma made the catch. Pakistan ended the innings with only one more wicket falling in the very last over, as Nida Dar tried to put a few more runs on the board, but was bowled by Reddy.
Pakistan’s innings ended with the team only making 105 runs.
INDIA’S INNINGS
It was an easy chase for India, despite Pakistan’s best efforts. Sadia Iqbal managed to get a wicket in the fifth over, after Smriti Mandhana became restless. Nine of her last ten balls before being dismissed were dots. Mandhana tried to force a breakthrough and was caught out by Hassan.
However, India continued to steadily make runs, inching closer to the target with every over. Omaima Sohail would get a wicket in the 12th, after Shafali Verma tried her hand at smashing the ball for six, but instead was caught out by Riaz.
In the 16th over, Pakistan looked to have injected life back into the game, with Fatima Sana taking two wickets in back to back balls. The first delivery found the thick edge of Jemimah Rodrigues’ bat, and was caught by the keeper, Ali. Sana’s next delivery was more of the same. Richa Gosh tried to get going on the very first ball she faced, but instead only got a thin edge on the ball, and Ali took the catch again. That would be the last wicket Pakistan would get.
India would cruise to an easy victory, behind 32 runs from Shafali Verma, 29 runs from Harmanpreet Kaur, and 23 runs from Jemimah Rodrigues.
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