– Subhayan Chakraborty from Cape Town
If the table cloth at the top of Table Mountain wasn’t enough to swell the beauty of Newlands Cricket Ground on Sunday, the Indian team ensured a sweet victory over arch-rivals Pakistan, by seven wickets in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup lit up the atmosphere inside the picturesque stadium.
It wasn’t a perfect game for the Women in Blue by any means but a triumph over Pakistan will boost the team morale and confidence, especially when they were without the services of ace opener Smriti Mandhana.
Chasing a challenging target of 150, openers Shafali Verma (33) and Yastika Bhatia (17) provided a superb start, scoring 38 runs in 5.2 overs before the latter perished to Sadia Iqbal. Shafali tried to pump Nashra Sandhu over long off but Sidra Ameen’s gravity-defying one-handed stunner ensured the Under-19 World Cup winning captain had to walk back to the pavilion.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (16), playing her first match since the tri-series final against South Africa, struggled to get going in the middle and ultimately threw her wicket away to Sandhu in the 14th over.
Jemimah Rodrigues, put cold form behind her back, and took some inspiration from Virat Kohli, to score a match-winning 53 not-out off 38 deliveries.
The 22-year-old said: “India vs Pakistan matches are always a little bit more special – we spoke about it in the team meeting.
“Growing up we always watched these matches. I remember watching the match at the MCG where Virat Kohli played such an extraordinary knock. We just wanted to go out, play the same cricket and with the same intensity as usual.”
Richa Ghosh continued her thunderous form and smashed 31 unbeaten off 20 balls to help India cross the winning line and register a comprehensive seven-wicket win.
After opting to bat first, Pakistan posted 149/4 in 20 overs following a blistering 43 unbeaten off 25 by Ayesha Naseem, who hammered her runs at a strike rate of 172. While Naseem upped the ante with her superlative stroke-play, skipper Bismah Maroof scored 68 not-out off 55 deliveries powered by seven boundaries to help Pakistan post their highest T20I total in T20 World Cup history and also, against India.
Though India started superbly with Deepti Sharma removing star opening batter Javeria Khan (8) in the second over before Radha Yadav got rid of Muneeba Ali (12) soon after.
Pakistan were pushed to the backfoot after losing Nida Dar for a two-ball duck in the eighth over. Sidra Ameen (11), too, was sent packing by Radha Yadav soon after. Indian bowlers dominated the middle overs, not allowing a single boundary to Pakistan from 5.6 to 11.6 overs.
When it was looking like Pakistan would struggle to post even 120 on the board, Maroof and Ayesha changed the complexion of the game by hitting crisp boundaries that disrupted India’s bowling plan.
The 16th over In particular was a momentum-changer as Renuka Singh Thakur conceded 18 runs off it with Ayesha taking her to cleaners. In the next over, Radha Yadav dropped a sitter at long off to give a lifeline to Ayesha which propelled Pakistan to a challenging total of 149/4 in 20 overs.
“We played very good cricket throughout the match but we made errors in our bowling. It was a very good match and we will take that forward and be better in the next game,” Bismah Maroof said.
Player of the Match: Jemimah Rodrigues (India)