Women Asia Cup 2022: Pakistan beats India by 13 Runs

Pakistan bounced back from a surprise defeat against Thailand to defeat India by 13 runs in their Women’s T20 Asia Cup match at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Nida Dar, Pakistan’s allrounder, led the charge with the bat first, stroking an unbeaten 56 after an early stutter before picking up two wickets, including that of returning India captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Her efforts helped Pakistan win their first-ever Women’s T20 Asia Cup match against India, and only their third win in 13 matches against them. It also put an end to India’s winning streak in the tournament.
Pakistan posted 137 for 6 thanks to a 76-run stand between Dar and captain Bismah Maroof and then had India on the mat at 91 for 7. However, Richa Ghosh, who batted at No. 8 after walking off the field in the first innings due to a heat-related issue, hit 26 off just 13 balls to boost India’s hopes. But it became too much for her after a while.
Image Courtesy: InsideSports.inSuffocating powerplayPakistan openers Muneeba Ali and Sidra Ameen made their attacking intentions clear early on after opting to bat. Under pressure, after their batting failed them against Thailand, the pair changed their approach and was eager to throw the bowlers off their lengths. Ameen made good use of the crease to slash Renuka Singh for a four, and Muneeba used her feet to come down and swipe Deepti Sharma past mid-on. Because of India’s disciplined bowling, the duo’s efforts went unrewarded.Pooja Vastrakar then had Ameen nicking at one outside off before Deepti picked up two wickets in three balls in her third over inside the powerplay. She had Muneeba stumped in the air before trapping Omaima Sohail lbw after she missed the sweep. In the meantime, Sohail was also out of the running.
In the first six overs, Pakistan was reduced to 33 for 3.
Pakistan’s recovery is being led by Maroof and Dar. It was then up to Maroof and Dar, the experienced duo, to get Pakistan back on track. They were the only players in the lineup with more than 100 T20Is between them, and they put on a show against India’s spinners. Dar was the attacker, sweeping Radha Yadav, who had been brought in for Sneh Rana, through a backward square leg before slinking down the track and hitting Rajeshwari Gayakwad over mid-on.
Dar got off to a quick start, hitting a four and a six off Dayalan Hemalatha, while Maroof took her time getting her eye in. The Pakistan captain ended her boundary drought with a square leg pull-off Pooja Vastrakar. Maroof mistimed a scoop-turned-to-ramp straight to short third in an attempt to up the ante even more.
Despite India’s regular inroads from the other end – they picked up three wickets for 30 runs in the last five overs – Dar moved quickly to her sixth T20I half-century and helped Pakistan reach 137.
Experimentation costs India money.In response, Sabbhineni Meghana and Smriti Mandhana struggled to get the pace off the pitch against the Pakistan spinners, despite Meghana hitting six and four off Dar and Sadia Iqbal, who was brought in for the injured Diana Baig. When Meghana tried to repeat it against Nashra Sandhu’s left-arm spin, she sliced one to cover. Rodrigues then struggled to get going despite a couple of opportunities and top-edged a swipe off Dar to the backward point. Even as Hemalatha got going from one end, Mandhana, after surviving a stamping chance, holed out to long-on off Sandhu on the very next ball, leaving India at 50 for 3 in ten overs.
Vastrakar, who batted at No. 5 ahead of Harmanpreet, was then run-out after a mix-up with Hemalatha, who was bowled while attempting a cheeky paddle off legspinner Tuba Hassan. Harmanpreet and Deepti added 26 off 19 balls for the sixth wicket with the asking rate well over nine before Deepti top-edged a sweep. Soon after, Harmanpreet failed to clear Aliya Riaz at long-on, who took three crucial catches near the end to leave India reeling.
Ghosh then used her big-hitting ability to smash Sandhu for back-to-back sixes in the 18th over, followed by another off Iqbal in the next. But the target was always out of reach. She was removed in the 19th over, with India needing 18 runs off the final over and one wicket remaining. Aiman Anwer dismissed Rajeshwari Gayakwad with two balls remaining in the chase to give Pakistan the victory.