An unbeaten 63 off 42 balls from opener Smriti Mandhana and two wickets each from Sneh Rana (2/15) and Radha Yadav (2/18) helped India beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the rain-hit women’s Group A match of the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Edgbaston on Sunday.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan were bundled out for a mere 99 runs as spinners Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav excelled with the ball after the match was reduced to 18 overs a side due to rain.
Meanwhile, Renuka Singh (1/20), Meghna Singh (1/21) and Shafali Verma (1/8) claimed one wicket each for the Indians. Opener Muneeba Ali top-scored for Pakistan with a 30-ball 32. In reply, Smriti Mandhana smashed an unbeaten 63 to take India home safely in 11.4 overs with eight wickets still in hand.
The eight-wicket win against Pakistan, after a three-wicket defeat to Australia in the opening match, means that India keeps their semi-final hopes alive and are on top of the table with their net run rate jumping from -0.56 to 1.17.
Spinners Sneh, Radha Reduce Pakistan to 99
Despite losing the toss and rain reducing the match to 18 overs per side, everything went right for the Indian bowlers. The pacers got the ball to nip around and then the spinners bowled slow and got some turn as well to never let Pakistan break free in the innings.
Sneh was the pick of the bowlers, with her double-wicket strike in the ninth over triggering Pakistan's wobble, where they lost their last five wickets in eight balls. After Renuka Singh began with a maiden in the opening over, Meghana Singh tested Iram Javed with balls outside off-stump and eventually succeeded in getting her nick behind to wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia.
Muneeba Ali came out of her shell by slamming Renuka for back-to-back boundaries - a slash over point was followed by hoick through mid-wicket. Despite India continuing to maintain the pressure on Pakistan, Muneeba found boundaries against Meghana - a four off top-edge on pull was followed by a crunched slog over deep mid-wicket.
Her 50-run stand with captain Bismah Maroof came to an end when the latter was trapped lbw while trying to sweep off Sneh. One brought two for India as Muneeba gave a simple return catch back to Sneh operating with round-the-wicket angle for the left-handers.
Renuka had her first wicket of the day by getting Ayesha Naseem to mistime a slog to running deep mid-wicket taking a sharp catch. A confusion in the middle caused the run-out of Omaima Sohail.
Aliya Riaz hit two boundaries in a bid to give Pakistan a good finish. But a direct hit from Meghana at mid-off caught her a yard short of the crease. On the very next ball, Shafali Verma completed a stunning low return catch to send Fatima Sana back to the pavilion.
Radha Yadav had Diana stumped in the final over while Tuba Hassan was run-out by a throw in the deep by substitute fielder Harleen Deol. She finished off by having Kainat Imtiaz stumped on the final ball of the innings to end Pakistan's misery with the bat.
Smriti Stars With the Bat in India's Chase
Smriti gave India an attacking start by slog-sweeping Anam Amin for six and followed it up by dancing down the pitch to loft over bowler's head for four. Smriti's elegant Sunday extended by using her crease and feet very well to hit Diana Baig for three boundaries, with her bisecting backward point and short third man being the standout.
India continued to deal in boundaries as Shafali Verma smashed Anam for a brutal six over long-on and ended the over with a loft over wide long-off for four. In between, Smriti snatched a four off Anam with a slice over backward point.
It was pacer Fatima Sana's turn to get some thrashing from Smriti as the left-hander nailed a pull through mid-wicket for four and brought up India's fifty in just 29 balls by dancing down the pitch to loft over mid-on.
Smriti and Shafali took a boundary each off Tuba Hassan's first over. But the leg-spinner had the last laugh as Shafali tried to slice a quicker ball but nicked behind to Muneeba, ending the 62-run opening partnership.
Smriti reached her 15th T20I fifty in 31 balls by dancing down the pitch and lofting Tuba for a sensational six straight down the ground.
S Meghana, who joined the team late due to Covid-19, got some batting time with a 16-ball 14 before being cleaned up by Omaima Sohail. Smriti finished off the chase in style by dragging Fatima over long-on for four to keep India in the hunt for the knockouts.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 99 all out in 18 overs (Muneeba Ali 32, Aliya Riaz 18; Sneh Rana 2-15, Radha Yadav 2-18) lost to India 102-2 in 11.4 overs (Smriti Mandhana 63 not out, Shafali Verma 16; Tuba Hassan 1-18, Omaima Sohail 1-20).
(With inputs from Agencies)
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