3 big takeaways from India's thrashing of Pakistan in 2024 Women's Asia Cup
India Women beat Pakistan Women by seven wickets in match number two of the Women's Asia Cup 2024 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla on Friday, July 19. The triumph in Dambulla was India's 12th win over Pakistan in 15 matches in the T20 format.
Bowling first after losing the toss, India Women did exceedingly well to bowl Pakistan Women for 108 in 19.2 overs. Seasoned all-rounder Deepti Sharma claimed 3-20, while Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Shreyanka Patil picked up two wickets each. In the chase, Team India cruised home in 14.1 overs as openers Smriti Mandhana (45 off 31) and Shafali Verma (40 off 29) added 85 in 9.3 overs.
In the wake of India's impressive seven-wicket win over Pakistan in the Women's Asia Cup clash, we take a look at three major takeaways from the result.
#1 All of India's bowlers made a genuine impact
Arguably, the biggest takeaway for India Women from their seven-wicket thrashing of Pakistan was the fact that all of their five bowlers had a say in the contest. As a result, the pressure never eased on Pakistan's batters and they eventually bolted in the wake of the tight leash maintained by India's bowlers.
Experienced pacer Vastrakar got the early breakthroughs, dismissing Gull Feroza (5) and Muneeba Ali (11) to put the opposition on the back foot early in the contest. Shreyanka struck in her very first over, getting the wicket of Aliya Riaz for 6. Renuka, who kept things extremely tight, was rewarded with the scalps of Sidra Ameen (25) and Iram Javed (0) off the last two balls of her spell.
Deepti bowled a brilliant 18th over, getting two wickets. She ended Tuba Hassan's resistance for 22 off 19 and also sent back Nashra Sandhu for a golden duck. In between, the two dismissals, Syeda Aroob Shah (2) was run out. Radha Yadav did not claim any wicket, but she gave away only 26 runs in her four overs and also effected the run out of Syeda with a direct hit.
#2 Pakistan were way too tentative with the bat
An India-Pakistan comes with its own set of pressures and Pakistan clearly weren't mentally ready for Friday's clash in Dambulla. They paid a heavy price for their lackluster batting, losing yet another match to arch-rivals India. The tentativeness in Pakistan's batting was way too evident from the start.
Feroza lobbed a simple catch to mid-on, attempting a half-hearted pull off a short ball from Vastrakar. The dismissal pretty much set the tone of the innings for Pakistan. Muneeba also fell to a shorter one from Vastrakar, playing a confused stroke. Next, Aliya walked down the track to Shreyanka, but only ended up chipping a catch to midwicket.
Iram was stuck in the crease as she tried a cross-batted heave off Renuka, while Tuba also fell in soft fashion. She gently cut one from Deepti to the fielder at point. Without doubt, India's bowlers were on top of their game, but Pakistan's batters only aided their opposition's cause with a rather poor batting effort.
#3 India could have pushed for a 10-wicket win
If there is one minor criticism that could be made of India's performance, it is the fact that they took it a bit too easy in the end and gave away some wickets. Instead, they could have been absolutely ruthless and clinched the game with all 10 wickets in hand.
The Indian openers added 85 in 9.3 overs without much trouble. Mandhana slammed nine fours in her 31, while Shafali struck six fours and a six in her 40. Both batters played loose strokes to gift their wickets away. Mandhana was caught at short midwicket off Syeda, while Shafali was bowled trying to heave the spinner. Dayalan Hemalatha (14) also threw it away after getting a start.
Despite the loss of three quick wickets, India were never in danger of losing the contest. However, to an extent, the three wickets that the Women in Blue lost took away the air of invincibility that headlined India's performance in the game.