Credit: X
On Friday, July 19, in their opening match of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024, played in the T20I format, the Indian bowlers were quite exceptional with the ball, inflicting a collapse on the Pakistan batting lineup. At the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Pakistan got bundled out for just 108 runs in the final over of the innings against a very impressive Indian bowling unit.
For the unversed, the captain of Pakistan, Nida Dar, won the toss and decided to bat first on a very good batting pitch in Dambulla. But the Pakistani opener Gull Feroza lost her wicket in the second over for 5 off 5, while her opening partner Muneeba Ali got dismissed for 11 off 11, both falling to Pooja Vastrakar.
Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma picked up the key wickets of Aliya Raz and Nida Dar in quick succession to put Pakistan firmly on the backfoot. Shortly after, Renuka Singh picked up the vital wicket of Sidra Amin for 25 off 35, and on the next ball, she sent Iram Javed back into the pavilion without troubling the scorers, reducing Pakistan to 61/6.
Tuba Hassan got 22 off 19 to stage a fightback of sorts for Pakistan, but after Deepti Sharma sent her to the pavilion, their innings fell away completely. It led to Pakistan getting bundled out for 108 in 19.2 overs, but not before Fatima Sana struck a couple of maximums against Radha Yadav in the penultimate over.
Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with 3/20 in her four-over spell for the Indian bowling unit.
Here are some of the fan reactions on X when India picked up regular wickets against Pakistan in Women’s Asia Cup 2024 match in Dambulla:
