 "Pakistan captain Fatima Sana applies an insect repellent spray during the ICC Women's World Cup match against India at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium. AP")
The ICC Women’s World Cup showdown between India and Pakistan was expected to face interruptions, especially with rain being predicted in Sunday’s weather forecast Colombo – where the match is taking place at the R Premadasa Stadium.
And face interruptions it did as the highly-anticipated showdown between the two neighbours was paused after the 34th over of the Indian innings, with the players walking off the ground along with the umpires.
Swarm of insects stop play in Colombo
The break in play, however, had nothing to do with rain, or any other weather-related phenomenon. Instead, it was a swarm of flying insects at the iconic venue that irritated the players, especially the Pakistanis, throughout the evening and forced the stadium authorities to bring in professional help at one point.
Before experts were called in to try and tackle the problem through fumigation, the Pakistanis were seen trying to get the insects to disperse by waving towels at the swarm. The fielding side even got a bug spray delivered to the centre from the sidelines at one point.
The sprays and the fumigation, however, appear to have had little effect on the insects, who continued to hover around the players, especially close to the pitch.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPakistan meanwhile, fought back in the middle overs by collecting wickets at regular intervals after India nearly went through the powerplay unscathed, with openers Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal forging a 48-run partnership before the former was dismissed in the ninth over.
Batting superstar Mandhana fell for 23 while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur departed for 19 as the two senior-most members of the squad failed to score big for the second game running.
Harleen Deol top-scored for the Women in Blue with a knock of 46 off 65 deliveries while wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh chipped in with a fiery 35 not out off 20 deliveries as India were bowled out for 247 in 49.5 overs, with pacer Diana Baig finishing as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/69.
Earlier in the day, Harmanpreet had ignored Pakistani captain Fatima Sana during the toss as India extended its ’no handshake’ policy with Pakistan to the ICC Women’s World Cup after observing it in each of their three meetings against their arch-rivals in the Men’s T20 Asia Cup.