Women's T20 World Cup: India beat arch-rival Pakistan to register first win

India Women registered their first win in the ongoing ICC Women's Word Cup on Sunday after beating arch-rival Pakistan by wickets six and seven balls to spare at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.

Chasing 106 to win, opener Shafali Verma led the charge with a steady 32, while Jemimah Rodrigues scored 23 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur handled a mini-collapse where India lost two wickets in as many balls when the score was at 80. The skipper remained unbeaten on 29, but was retired hurt with just two runs needed to win. Kaur injured her neck after she lost balance attempting to hit the winning runs.

Earlier, the bowlers did a great job to restrict Pakistan to 105/8 in 20 overs. Pacer Arundhati Reddy spearheaded India's bowling with 3/19, earning her the Player of the Match award. Off-spinner Shreyanka Patil did not allow the batters to settle and registered figures of 2/12 in four over, including a maiden. Renuka Singh Thakur, Deepti Sharma, and Asha Sobhana picked up a wicket each. For Pakistan, Nida Dar scored a 34-ball 28 after being reduced to 41/4 inside 10 overs. Captain Fatima Sana and Syeda Shah played little cameos to help their team cross the 100-run mark.


This was India's first win in the tournament after a disappointing performance against New Zealand, where the team lost by 58 runs. With the defeat, India needs to win all their matches in the group stage to advance to the semi final. They will face Sri Lanka women on October 9 and defending champions Australia on October 13.