What happened the last time India played Pakistan in a Women's Asia Cup clash?
The Indian women's team will kickstart their 2024 Women's Asia Cup campaign with a clash against arch-rivals Pakistan. The Women in Blue head into the tournament as defending champions, and a dominant record over the Pakistan women's team.
The two sides have had several memorable encounters in the Asia Cup in the past, including successive finals in the 2012 and 2016 editions, both of which were won by India. However, it was the Women in Green that had emerged as winners the last time these two sides faced each other in the Asia Cup during the 2022 edition.
The neighboring sides faced each other on October 7, 2022, in Sylhet as part of the round-robin format in the seven-team affair.
The Bismah Maroof-led side opted to bat first after winning the toss and lost both openers inside the powerplay itself. Pakistan were reduced to 33/3 after six overs as Deepti Sharma struck twice. During the middle overs, the veteran pair of Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar controlled the proceedings, putting up 76 runs for the fourth wicket.
After the skipper's dismissal in the 17th over, Dar wreaked havoc in the death overs to end up with an unbeaten 56 runs off 37 deliveries at a strike rate of 151.35. Pakistan ended up with 137/6 at the end of the first innings.
Deepti Sharma was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 3/27. Pooja Vastrakar also chipped in with a couple of wickets while Renuka Singh bowled a tight spell.
Team India could not get going in the run chase
Much like Pakistan's start to the innings, India also struggled against the new ball. There was not much room to operate on a sluggish wicket, and the lack of partnerships, especially at the start, severely hurt the team's prospects.
S Meghana and Jemimah Rodrigues departed inside the powerplay itself while Smriti Mandhana and Dayalan Hemalatha tried to repair the innings. Pakistan got the key wicket of the left-handed opening batter in the tenth over after India hit the 50-run mark.
The latter half of the run chase saw India completely lose the plot as Pakistan piled on the pressure with wickets in quick succession. The Women in Blue were reduced to 65/5 in the 13th over. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, batting at No.7, and Richa Ghosh tried to salvage the match with one last effort, but the former was dismissed even before India hit the three-figure mark.
The young wicket-keeper kept India in the contest with a quickfire cameo of 26 runs off 13 deliveries, including three sixes. But, the lower order crumbled towards the end, and Ghosh could not handle the climbing required rate.
India could only muster 124 runs in reply and were bundled out with a handful of deliveries to spare.
The Pakistani bowlers put in a united display, with each bowler picking up at least one wicket. Nashra Sandhu was the pick among the bowlers for her spell of 3-30, which included the key wickets of both opening batters. Veteran Nida Dar was also influential, claiming figures of 2/23 and earning the Player of the Match award for her all-round display.
The result meant a lot to the Women in Green after they were defeated by Thailand women, a day before their clash against India. It marked only the third instance that they beat their rivals in the shortest format.
The tournament was on the cusp of witnessing yet another India-Pakistan final, but the Women in Green lost the semi-final clash against Sri Lanka by one run. India went on to win their record-extending seventh title by winning the final.