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Pakistan women’s national cricket team staged a remarkable resurgence following a shocking defeat against Thailand on Thursday as they beat table-topper India 13 runs in the Women’s Asia Cup 2022 in Sylhet on Friday.
Pakistan’s Nida Dar used her all-round exploits to take the upper hand for Pakistan, who managed to win their first Twenty20 match against India since 2016. All-rounder Dar, who took home the player of the match award, led the charge with the bat as she scored 56 off 37 balls, hitting five fours and one six, and later came back to take two wickets for 23 runs with her off-spin taking the scalps of an in-from Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan posted 137-6. Pakistan were in a spot of bother as they finished the powerplay at 33-3 but made a remarkable turnaround as skipper Bismah Mahroof and Dar put together a 76-run stand for the fourth wicket giving their side the impetus of a decent score.
Mahroof was out after scoring 32 off 35 balls but Dar remained unbeaten on 56 as she saw her team through to a competitive total.
India’s Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers as she picked up three wickets for 27 runs, while pacer Pooja Vastrakar scalped two.
In reply, India found it difficult to force the pace against Pakistan’s spin quartet as they finished the first six at 30-2, losing opener Sabbhineni Meghana and Jemimah. Indian batters struggled against the left-arm spin of Nashra Sandhu and the leg-break of Tuba Hassan as they lost wickets at regular intervals while trying to force the game due to the sluggish run-rate.
Richa Ghosh top-scored with 26 runs off 13 balls falling prey to Sadia Iqbal and with that India’s hope of maintaining their unbeaten record was lost as they were bundled out for 124.
