Experienced batter Jemimah Rodrigues produced a grasp class of an innings as she and teenager Richa Ghosh held their nerves below strain to information India to a seven-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan of their opening match of the Women’s T20 World Cup right here on Saturday.
Jemimah (53 not out off 38 balls) and Richa (31 not out off 20 balls) stitched 58 runs for the unconquered fourth wicket as India chased down a difficult goal of 150 with six balls to spare.
Jemimah struck eight boundaries whereas Richa hit 5 fours throughout their unbeaten knocks as India reached 151 for 3 in 19 overs, their highest profitable chase within the T20 World Cup.
Shafali Verma (33 off 25 balls) and Yastika Bhatia (17) gave a superb begin to the Indian run chase, stitching 38 runs in 5.3 overs. The powerplay overs yielded 43 runs for one wicket.
Shafali, who efficiently reviewed a LBW resolution within the fourth over, was going robust as she took the assault to the opposition bowlers. But her dismissal within the tenth over with Sidra Ameen taking a high-quality catch close to the boundary off the bowling of Nashra Sandhu set India on the back-foot.
One-down Jemimah survived a detailed stumping name as India reached 67 for two on the midway mark with the skilled captain Harmanpreet Kaur having arrived on the crease.
Harmanpreet struck a boundary from the third supply she confronted and repeated it in the identical eleventh over to swell the Indian whole. But she was responsible of making an attempt to slog-sweep throughout the road and towards the flip off the bowling of Fatima Sana.
The prime edge was simply taken by Bismah Maroof as India have been decreased to 93 for 3 in 13.3 overs.
India wanted 83 runs from the final 10 overs and regardless of the autumn of essential wickets, the nice begin and batting depth stored India within the hunt. But run fee stored climbing for India as they wanted 47 from the final 5 overs.
With Jemimah and new batter Richa getting the boundaries usually, the equation grew to become 28 runs from three overs.
Richa turned the match on its head as she hit three successive boundaries within the first three balls of the 18th over bowled by Aiman Anwer. Ghosh was good sufficient to ship two widish deliveries to the fence.
Needing 14 from the final two overs, Jemimah struck three fours within the penultimate over to finish the match in a jiffy.
Earlier, Pakistan posted 149 for 4 after electing to bat, their highest T20 World Cup whole.
Pakistan have been decreased to 43 for 3 within the eighth over however they made an excellent restoration, scoring 91 runs within the second half of their innings with captain Bismah Maroof (68 not out) and Ayesha Naseem (43 not out) stitching 81 runs for the unconquered fifth wicket.
Maroof struck seven fours throughout her 55-ball unbeaten knock whereas Naseem hit two fours and two sixes from 25 balls throughout her unbeaten innings.
Pakistan scored 91 runs from the second half of their innings and 58 from the final 5 overs, as Maroof and Naseem pissed off the Indian bowlers for greater than eight overs to take their facet to a difficult whole.
Pakistan’s Bismah Maroof (L) celebrates after scoring a half-century (50 runs) as Pakistan’s Ayesha Naseem (R) seems on
| Photo Credit: AFP
For India, left-arm spinner Radha Yadav was probably the most profitable bowler with figures of two/21 whereas Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar received one wicket every.
India didn’t take lengthy to get the breakthrough, with in-form off-spinner Deepti Sharma dismissing Pakistan opener Javeria Khan (8) within the second over with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur taking a simple catch at brief high-quality leg after the batter had struck a boundary within the earlier ball.
Pakistan confirmed attacking intent even after the early jolt as captain and one-down Bismah Maroof hit two consecutive boundaries within the fourth over. Pakistan have been 39 for one on the finish of powerplay overs.
A change in bowling yielded success for the Indians as left-arm spinner Radha Yadav eliminated the opposite opener Muneeba Ali (12) within the seventh over. A sensible evaluate by the Indians within the subsequent over resulted to a different wicket as Nida Dar was dominated out as there was a slight contact of the ball on her gloves off Pooja Vastrakar.
The two fast wickets set Pakistan on the back-foot from a promising place as they have been decreased to 58 for 3 on the midway mark.
The skilled Maroof was going robust and held one finish collectively however wickets fell round her, together with that of Sidra Ameen (11) who grew to become Yadav’s second sufferer within the thirteenth over.
With the arrival of Ayesha Naseem within the thirteenth over, Pakistan pressed the accelerator as she made scoring look straightforward with a six and 4 off Renuka Singh within the sixteenth over.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com