ICC World T20 2016: Pakistani women beat Indian women by 2 runs by D/L method
The most anticipated match of the 2016 ICC World T20 is just hours away from the start in Kolkata as India and Pakistan fight it out once again in the world stage. Like the men’s team, the women’s team of these two neighbors also collided today in Delhi in the ICC women’s World T20.
Pakistan captain Sana Mir won the toss and elected to field first. India opened their Innings with their captain Mithali Raj and inform batswoman Vellaswamy Vanitha but endured an early setback in the form of Vanitha. India never looked in control as Pakistan picked up wickets in regular intervals and kept the pressure on with some disciplined bowling.
Apart from Veda Krishnamurthy no other Indian batswomen were able to score more than 20. In the end, Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey contributed some important runs as the hosts put up a fighting total of 96 in their allotted quota of 20 overs.
Pakistan bowlers put a good collective show
Pakistani bowlers were very good as they picked up early wickets and kept it very tight throughout the innings. The pick of the Pakistani bowlers was Anam Amin, who picked up 1 wicket and gave away only 9 runs in her 4 overs. Five of the six bowlers that Pakistan used picked up a wicket each and made it tough for the batswomen to score on the sluggish Feroz Shah Kotla pitch.
Pakistani captain Sana Mir was also bowled very well and picked up a wicket.
India made a comeback through some superb fielding efforts
In reply, Pakistani openers started the match in fine fashion as right-handed batswoman Nahida Khan smashed two fours in the first over. After Khan’s dismissal, her partner Sidra Ameen took the responsibility upon herself in the run chase and played a soiled innings of run a ball 26.
India made a superb comeback with some outstanding fielding led by their captain Mithali Raj, who took a superb catch to get rid of Iram Javed. Indian wicket-keeper Sushma Verma then ran out Pakistani captain Sana Mir with a direct-hit before the umpires decide to hold the match due to rain.
Rain favored the Pakistani women
Pakistan needed 20 runs from 24 deliveries and had only 4 wickets in hand. The rain clearly favored the Pakistani team as Indian were building some serious pressure on them and the rain will give them the opportunity to regroup. In the end, Pakistan Women’s won the match by only 2 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method.
Among the Indian bowlers, Jhulan Goswami was the pick of the bowlers as she bowled 15 dot balls in her spell of 4 overs and also picked up a wicket while giving away only 14 runs. Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, and Harmanpreet Kaur all picked up one wicket each but couldn’t stop the Pakistani team from winning.