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On Friday, July 19, India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets in their Women’s Asia Cup 2024 opening match at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. It was a complete performance from the Indian bowlers and the opening batters, with Deepti Sharma picking up three wickets, followed by a 85-run stand for the first wicket between Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana.
After the Pakistan captain Nida Dar chose to bat first on a very good batting pitch in Dambulla, the batters kept losing their wickets in quick intervals. Sidra Amin, Tuba Hassan, and Fatima Sana scored 20s each for Pakistan, but the rest of the batters fell away in a heap, which meant that Pakistan were bundled out for 108 in the last over of the innings.
Deepti Sharma was the best bowler on the night for India, registering figures of 3/20 in her four-over spell. The likes of Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, and Shreyanka Patil picked up a couple of wickets each as well.
In the pursuit of the 109-run target, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana matched each other stroke for stroke against a hapless Pakistan bowling attack. They stitched together an 85-run stand for the opening wicket before Mandhana lost her wicket to Syeda Aroob Shah on 45 off 31 with eight fours in her innings.
Shafali Verma got dismissed to the same bowler in their next over after scoring 40 off 29 with six fours and one maximum. Dayalan Hemalatha kept the momentum of the Indian innings going before the captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues took the team over the finishing line.
India will be playing their second match in the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 against UAE on Sunday, July 21, in the afternoon hours. A win could put them one step closer to making it through to the knockout stage of the competition.
