Twitter Reactions: Pakistan topple tournament favourites India, hand them their first defeat of Women's Asia Cup 2022
Richa Ghosh's powerful cameo brought India very close to a win, but Pakistan bowlers held their nerves to bag a win.
When it is India and Pakistan, the contest has to be an exciting one. And so was the 13th match of the Women’s Asia Cup as the two teams locked horns. Pakistan had come into the game after facing a heartbreaking defeat against Thailand, but they did not let the loss hinder their game against India. The two teams put up a brilliant fight, but in the end, Pakistan emerged victorious and handed India a major upset in the tournament.
The game started with Pakistan winning the toss and electing to bat first. The openers, Sidra Ameen and Muneeba Ali’s opening stand was short-spanned, but they got their side the momentum to begin with, which helped the batters build the innings in the middle. In the final two overs of the powerplay, Indian bowlers Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma managed to dismiss Pakistan’s entire top-order lineup.
Skipper Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar then steadied Pakistan’s innings and built up a crucial 76-run stand for the fourth wicket before the former walked off. But Nida Dar was unstoppable, as she kept the team’s scoreboard ticking even after losing partners on the other end. Her unbeaten 37-ball 56* helped Pakistan post a total of 137/6 in the first innings.
Pakistan bowlers break India's winning streak
India’s start to the chase was not easy. This was India’s fourth game, and the team deployed the fourth opening pair in this tournament as Smriti Mandhana and Sabbhineni Meghana opened the innings for the Women in Blue. While Meghana got into the zone early in the game and started aiming for the boundaries early on, her innings came to an end in the fourth over when Nashra Sandhu dismissed her.
Just by the end of the powerplay, India lost their in-form batter, Jemimah Rodrigues, as Pakistan took the driver’s seat thereon. Dayalan Hemalatha and Smriti Mandhana tried building a partnership then and also got some good runs on board, but Pakistan bowlers kept breaking India’s momentum and picked up wickets at regular intervals.
Sadia Iqbal picked up Mandhana, Pooja Vastrakar walked off after a terrible runout, and Hemalatha lost her momentum in the game as well as she gave away her wicket cheaply. Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur took the field then, but the changes in the batting lineup did no good for India. The Indian team saw a ray of hope when Richa Ghosh went berserk and punished the batters.
She smashed three sixes and a four to amass 26 runs off 13 deliveries and got India really close to a win, before losing her wicket in the penultimate over. India ran out of all the key batters, and the lower order could not do much in the end. Pakistan dished India out in the final over and won the game by 13 runs, handing India their first defeat of the tournament.
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