Twitter Reactions: Jemimah Rodrigues’ masterclass hands India first win in Women's T20 World Cup over Pakistan

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India kickstart their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign with a win against arch-rivals Pakistan by seven wickets. All eyes were on the highly-anticipated clash of the marquee event between the two sides which was played at the Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday, February 12. 

Opting to bat first, Bismah Maroof led from the front playing a captain’s knock after early jolts to the Green Brigade. Openers Muneeba Ali and Javeria Khan failed to hit the ground running as they were swiftly dismissed at scores of 12 and eight runs respectively which handed a massive blow to the side early on in the contest.

Despite that, skipper Bismah stood firm and carved out a rather delicate knock as the wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. A brilliant 81-run partnership with Ayesha Naseem, who came lower down the order helped the side to revive after an early stutter in the high-octane clash. 

Meanwhile, the lack lustre fielding by India saw them drop Ayesha Naseem on two occasions. This eventually cost them runs as the batter targeted the bowling unit soon after she felt settled. Due to the magnificent partnership, Pakistan posted a competitive total of 149 runs in their stipulated 20 overs. Interestingly, this was also the Women in Green’s highest total against the Indian side in the history of the marquee event.

Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh dazzle in India's chase 

In response to the total, India were handed a decent head start courtesy of their openers- Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia. However, just when the duo was getting into the groove, Sadia Iqbal got the vital scalp of Yastika. 

Meanwhile, Shafali continued to play her natural game but was unable to convert it into a big score as she was sent packing at an individual score of 33 off 25 balls by Nashra Sandhu. In came Jemimah Rodrigues, who along with Richa Ghosh stitched the all-important partnership of 58 runs to help the side get ahead in the contest. 

Jemimah then shifted gears and scored an unbeaten 53 off 38 to hand India their first win in the marquee event. She was eventually awarded the Player of the Match.

Here is how Twitter reacted to India's colossal win over Pakistan in their opening fixture-

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