There were enough talking points from India’s six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the World Cup game played at the Dubai International Stadium. The dominance of the Indian bowlers, Pakistan’s fightback, India’s lack of intent with the bat, Harmanpreet Kaur’s injury and the furnace-like heat at the stadium. Shreyanka Patil, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy and Asha Sobhana made regular incisions to restrict Pakistan to 105. India then chased down the target in the 19th over.
India had to work hard to overhaul the target. With the outfield and the track turning out to be slow, the openers, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, dealt in singles and twos. Mandhana couldn’t make much of an impression, spooning a catch to the fielder stationed at point. Her inconsistency could cost India fear going ahead as she is clearly the teams best batter.
Jemimah Rodrigues, who came out to bat at No. 3, was adept at rotation of strike. Her efficient running between the wickets was also an indicator of her superior fitness when compared to some of her teammates. The pair of Jemimah and Shafali stitched a key stand of 43. However, India suffered a mini-collapse, which opened the window of opportunity for Pakistan to make a comeback.
Shafali was dismissed by Omiama Sohail while Fatima removed Jemimah and Richa Ghosh off successive deliveries as India slipped to 80 for 4. Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma then ensured there would be no more hiccups. Although with just two runs required for a win, Hamanpreet sustained a neck injury and retired hurt. S Sajana scored the winning runs. The Indian camp would be sweating over the fitness of Harmanpreet with the next game just three days away. Pooja Vastrakar, the all-rounder, has also been sidelined by an injury.
It is true that the conditions were not easy for batting but the Indian batters could have rotated the strike better. It has to be remembered that India’s NRR took a battering after their crushing loss to New Zealand.
“We understand net run rate is important, but also winning the game is all the more important for us,” Arundhati said in the presser. “Like you said again, net run rate will be in play especially in this group. Honestly today the wicket was playing a little slower. So obviously, the batters could not. The main thing was to finish the game.”
Earlier, right from the time Pakistan’s innings commenced, India held a firm grip on proceedings. Renuka Singh castled Gull Feroza to give India the perfect start. Deepti then removed Sidra Amin with a tossed-up delivery to make it two down. Omaima miscued one off Arundhati Reddy to mid-off while Shreyanka showcased bowling smart to dismiss Muneeba Ali, with Richa effecting the stumping.
Richa also pouched an exceptional one-handed catch to send Fatima back to the hut. In fact, Fatima was the only Pakistan batter who tried to play with intent. On the other hand, the fielding coach’s drills with Richa yesterday seemed to have worked. Munish Bali also focused on Asha Sobhana’s fielding in the practice session. Unfortunately, Asha continued to be a poor fielder, dropping two sitters.
At the fag end of Pakistan’s innings, Nashra Sandhu’s pyrotechnics took the side past the 100-run mark. On a slow track, the four Indian spinners extracted enough purchase and picked five wickets between them. Arundhati, the medium pacer, also impressed and bagged three wickets. Meanwhile, Nida Dar top-scored for Pakistan with 28.
The India-Pakistan game was played in some extreme conditions. Such was the heat on view that the writer’s phone got overheated and didn’t work for at least 20 minutes. Despite the conditions, most of the stands were filled up. Incidentally, fans started making a beeline entry into the stadium two hours before the commencement of the game.
Most of them proudly waved their respective tricolour flags. A group of fans even came from Mumbai just to watch Smriti Mandhana play. The same could be said about an entire family travelling all the way from Karnataka to watch Shreyanka. Just to give an inkling of the kind of support India received, there was a loud cheer when Shafali’s LBW decision was reversed via the DRS. India will next take on Sri Lanka on October 9 at the same stadium. And with that game being held in night conditions, we can expect another good turnout.
Brief scores: Pakistan 105/8 in 20 overs (Nida Dar 28; Arundhati Reddy 3-19) lost to India 106/4 in 18.5 overs (Shafali Verma 32, Harmanpreet Kaur 29*; Fatima Sana 2-23) by six wickets.