India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign opener on Sunday at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.
Pakistan batted first and lost several early wickets, but a half-century from Bismah Maroof and an unbeaten 43* run effort from Ayesha Naseem lead them to a score of 149/4 in 20 overs. Pakistan’s skipper produced an undefeated 68-run knockoff 55 balls, striking seven fours, as her team reached 149 for four in 20 overs. Ayesha Naseem, on the other hand, scored 43 runs off 25 deliveries, including two fours and two sixes. Radha Yadav was instrumental in India’s bowling attack, getting two wickets. Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar were also dismissed.
Chasing the total, India lost an early wicket of Yastika Bhatia, who was quickly followed by Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur. Jemimah Rodrigues’ unbroken half-century helped India overcome Pakistan Chasing a goal of 150 runs, India achieved 151 for three because of Jemimah Rodrigues’ undefeated innings of 53 runs off 38 balls, which included eight fours. Meanwhile, Richa Ghosh smashed 31 runs off 20 balls, including five fours, to set up a match-winning partnership with Jemimah. For Pakistan, Nashra Sandhu grabbed two wickets and allowed only 15 runs in 4 overs and Sadia Iqbal picked one wicket.
