Indian Women's Team Defy Bug Plague to Cruise to Chilly Victory Over Pakistani Rivals in Women’s Cricket World Cup
Pace bowler Kranti Goud and spin specialist Deepti Sharma took three wickets each as the Indian side routed Pakistan by a substantial margin in their World Cup match, starting like recent ones between the men’s national sides with no handshake from the skippers and then featured a controversial run-out of a Pakistan opener.
India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, did not shake hands with Sana during the toss and the squads departed without greeting each other after the match amid political tensions between the two neighboring nations.
Skippers at the men’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates also did not shake hands at matches between the two rivals. Indian authorities have alleged their neighbor of having involvement in attacks on tourists that killed dozens.
Game Overview
Losing the toss, they were dismissed for 247 in their allotted overs. The opening pair, Pratika Rawal and the star batter Smriti Mandhana, put on 48 runs for the opening stand before the bowler had Mandhana lbw for a 23 off 32. She made 31 runs before she was bowled by spinner Iqbal. The captain scored 19 before she was caught behind off Diana Baig.
Deol was the top scorer for the team with 46 runs and Richa Ghosh made a rapid 35* to boost their side to a competitive total.
Jemimah Rodrigues (32), Deepti (25) and Rana (20) all made valuable contributions, while Diana took 4/69 for Pakistan and the duo had two wickets each. The match was stopped for a quarter-hour because bugs were troubling the players.
Pakistan Batting
Pakistan were bowled out for 159 in 43 overs. Sole fifty of the game in Colombo came from Amin, who made 81.
The opening wicket was lost in a confusing manner when the opener Muneeba Ali was adjudged run out. She had placed her bat after getting back, having moved forward to attempt a stroke. The bat was then seen to be lifted when an India throw struck the wickets. The captain protested to the fourth umpire that the batter was not running but the ruling was upheld.
Amin’s 106-ball innings included a maximum and nine boundaries. Goud took three wickets for 20 runs and the spinner finished with three for 45.
