IND vs PAK Highlights, Women's T20 World Cup 2024: Reddy, Verma lead the way as India defeat Pakistan by six wickets

After 18.5 overs, India 108/4 (Deepti Sharma 7, Sajeevan Sajana 4)

FOUR! INDIA DEFEAT PAKISTAN BY SIX WICKETS!

Sajeevan Sajana walks out to bat after Harmanpreet Kaur retires hurt, and needs just one ball to finish the job for her team, going for an inside-out loft over mid off that results in the ball running all the way to the boundary despite a spirited chase by one of the fielders.

With that, India defeat Pakistan by six wickets and collect the first points of their campaign! Pakistan, meanwhile, hit a roadblock after beginning their campaign with a morale-boosting win!

After 18 overs, India 102/4 (Harmanpreet Kaur 28, Deepti Sharma 6)

Sadia Iqbal returns for her final over, conceding 10 off it including three to Harmanpreet in the penultimate ball to sign off with figures of 1/23. Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana bowls out her final over next up, and successfully appeals for leg-before against Deepti in the first delivery. The all-rounder reviews it right away, and gets the decision overturned after an inside-edge is detected on UltraEdge. FOUR! Harmanpreet brings up the 100 for Team India with a boundary in the penultimate delivery after picking a slower ball from her Indian counterpart and driving it through extra cover.

India need just 4 more to win off 12 balls with six wickets in hand!

After 16 overs, India 84/4 (Harmanpreet Kaur 15, Deepti Sharma 1)

OUT! Fatima Sana’s on a hat-trick! Pakistan are not out of this game yet and might just produce something special in the business end of the match! Richa Ghosh ends up departing for a golden duck after nicking the ball to her Pakistani counterpart Muneeba.

Deepti Sharma negotiates the hat-trick ball safely for a single next up before Harmanpreet collects a brace and a single off the next two deliveries to keep the strike for the following over.

Ghosh c Muneeba b Sana 0(1)

OUT! Fatima Sana gets rid of Jemimah Rodrigues exactly how she was dismissed earlier today — inducing an edge off the toe end of the bat resulting in a catch for the keeper. Unlike Richa Ghosh’s brilliant one-handed grab though, this one’s fairly simple for Muneeba. IND 80/3 in 15.2

Rodrigues c Muneeba b Sana 23(28)

After 14 overs, India 74/2 (Jemimah Rodrigues 20, Harmanpreet Kaur 9)

Rodrigues and Harmanpreet are happy to keep the scoreboard ticking with the help of singles, with 10 of them coming in overs 13 and 14 along with a brace. India have plenty of wickets in hand and could use this opportunity to wrap up the chase as quickly as possible in order to improve their NRR that took a major hit on Friday.

After 12 overs, India 62/2 (Jemimah Rodrigues 16, Harmanpreet Kaur 1)

OUT! Shafali’s stay at the crease finally comes to an end as she holes out to the fielder at long on while attempting to clear the fence for the first maximum of the chase. Good grab by Aliya Riaz in front of the boundary rope as Omaima Sohail breaks the second-wicket partnership that was ultimately worth 43 and brought India back on track in their chase.

Verma c Riaz b Sohail 32(35)

After 10 overs, India 50/1 (Shafali Verma 16, Jemimah Rodrigues 8)

Verma and Rodrigues do well to pinch five singles in Nashra Sandhu’s second over. Eight off the next one, bowled by Tuba Hassan, with Shafali collecting the second boundary of the innings with a lofted drive over mid off. India need another 56 to win off 60.

After 8 overs, India 37/1 (Shafali Verma 16, Jemimah Rodrigues 8)

India finally collect their first boundary at the start of the eighth over as Shafali pulls a half-tracker off Tuba Hassan’s first delivery of the evening, beating Sadia Iqbal who attempts to prevent the boundary in the deep. Verma’s batting in double-digits at the moment and will be hoping to take her team home from here.

After 6 overs, India 25/1 (Shafali Verma 7, Jemimah Rodrigues 5)

Shafali’s frustration grows as she is unable to clear the fielders stationed inside the circle despite timing the ball well, with just three runs coming in the sixth over as India reach 25/1 at the end of the powerplay. Meanwhile, Jemimah Rodrigues walks in ahead of Harmanpreet and is off the mark with back-to-back doubles. Bit of a surprise from the Indians here as the skipper had earlier stated she would be batting at No 3 in the World Cup.

OUT! Soft dismissal for Smriti Mandhana as she chips the ball straight to point to depart for 7! Left-arm spinner Sadiq Iqbal strikes in her second over, giving Pakistan the early wicket that they were looking for. IND 18/1 in 4.3

Smriti Mandhana c Tuba Hassan b Sadiq Iqbal 7(16)

After 4 overs, India 18/0 (Shafali Verma 6, Smriti Mandhana 7)

Captain Sana starts back-to-back dots, but releases whatever little pressure Pakistan was building by after the Indian openers boundaries by conceding five wides in the third delivery. Off-spinner Nida Dar is introduced in the following over, and Shafali simply isn’t able to collect a boundary despite producing a couple of crisp shots. She looks frustrated at the end of the over.

After 2 overs, India 8/0 (Shafali Verma 2, Smriti Mandhana 6)

Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal operates from the other end, and Smriti Mandhana is able to collect a couple of doubles off her bowling, the second one coming off a firm cut in front of square.

After 1 over, India 4/0 (Shafali Verma 2, Smriti Mandhana 2)

Skipper Fatima Sana decides to bowl the first over, and nearly gets the wicket of Shafali Verma in the first over after successfully appealing for LBW in the penultimate delivery. Verma goes for the review right away, and surely enough, the ball is found to be missing leg after jagging a long way back in.

After 20 overs, Pakistan 105/8 (Syeda Aroob Shah 14, Nashra Sandhu 6)

PAKISTAN SET INDIA 106 TO WIN IN DUBAI!

Shreyanka Patil signs off with superb figures of 2/12 after exhausting her quota of overs despite conceding six in her final over including a wide. Seamer Arundhati Reddy then collects her third wicket in the final over after breaching Nida Dar’s defence and hitting her off pole, giving her a little send-off as well that will likely attract a fine later. Dar departs as the only Pakistani batter to have cross the 20-mark. Nashra Sandhu then joins Aroob at the centre and ends the innings with a brace and a four as Pakistan post 105/8.

Here’s Ghosh’s blinder of a catch to dismiss Fatima

After 18 overs, Pakistan 89/7 (Nida Dar 24, Syeda Aroob Shah 11)

Asha Sobhana and Deepti Sharma sign off with identical figures of 4-0-24-1, though their final overs are chalk and cheese. Sobhana concedes just three singles while Deepti goes for 10, including a boundary to new batter Syeda Aroob Shah at the start of the over as she charges down the track and smashes the ball down the ground. With Nida in the 20s and Aroob striking well, Pakistan will be hopeful not just of going past 100, but to get close to 120, which certainly will be competitive given their attack.

After 16 overs, Pakistan 76/7 (Nida Dar 19, Syeda Aroob Shah 3)

OUT! The wickets continue to tumble for the Pakistanis as Tuba Hassan departs for a three-ball duck, getting a thick top-edge while attempting to play a sweep off Shreyanka Patil’s bowling. Results in a simple catch for Shafali Verma inside the circle. Renuka Thakur, meanwhile, bowls out a tidy final over next up to sign off with figures 1/23 from four overs.

Tuba Hassan c Shafali Verma b Shreyanka Patil 0(3)

After 14 overs, Pakistan 70/6 (Nida Dar 17, )

DROPPED! Asha Sobhana puts down another simple chance inside the circle, and once again it is off Arundhati Reddy’s bowling. This just two balls after Riaz’s dismissal, giving Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana a lifeline on nought.

Things go from bad to worse for Sobhana in the following over as Sana smashes her for back-to-back fours, giving Pakistan’s run-rate a much-needed boost. However, the over ends on a happy note for Sobhana after keeper Richa Ghosh grabs a one-handed screamer after Fatima nicks the ball off the toe end of her bat.

Fatima Sana c Richa Ghosh b Asha Sobhana 13(8)

OUT! Second wicket for Arundhati Reddy as she successfully appeals for leg-before against Aliya Riaz! The batter in question decides to take this upstairs, and gets ‘Umpire’s Call’ after the ball is found to be clipping leg after jagging a long way back in and beating the inside edge. PAK 52/5 in 12.1

Aliya Riaz LBW Arundhati Reddy 4(9)

After 12 overs, Pakistan 52/4 (Nida Dar 13, Aliya Riaz 4)

A welcome boundary for Pakistan in the final delivery of the 11th over as Nida Dar crouches low and sweeps a low full toss bowled outside off towards the square fence. Was turning out to be another tidy over from Renuka, who’s brought back by Harmanpreet after the halfway stage, only to be somewhat ruined by one poor delivery. Nida and Aliya collect five singles in the following over to take Pakistan past 50.

After 10 overs, Pakistan 41/4 (Nida Dar 6, Aliya Riaz 0)

Things go from bad to worse for the Pakistanis as opener Muneeba Ali ends up getting stumped off Shreyanka Patil’s bowling at the halfway stage of the innings. Muneeba was relatively set, being the only batter to enter double digits so far in terms of runs, and the Pakistanis would have hoped for her to bat till the death overs.

Wicket maiden for Shreyanka Patil as Pakistan are reduced to 41/4 at the halfway stage.

Muneeba Ali st Richa Ghosh b Shreyanka Patil 17(26)

After 7 overs, Pakistan 34/3 (Muneeba Ali 16, Nida Dar 0)

OUT! Reddy does get a wicket in her second over after all! Three balls after Asha Shobhana fluffed a simple chance at short fine to Muneeba a lifeline, Omaima ends up chipping the ball straight to Shafali at mid off to depart for 3.

Omaima Sohail c Shafali Verma b Arundhati Reddy 3(6)

After 6 overs, Pakistan 29/2 (Muneeba Ali 14, Omaima Sohail 1)

BOWLED! Deepti Sharma strikes as Sidra Amin ends up playing the ball onto the leg stump while attempting to play a sweep off the off-spinner. She had executed the short perfectly in the previous delivery for a boundary. Deepti, however, bowls the next one slightly slower, resulting in the batter going into her shot a tad early.

Another spinner introduced from the other end with Shreyanka Patil bowling the final over of the powerplay. She concedes four, including a brace, as Pakistan collect 29 runs in the powerplay for the loss of two wickets.

Sidra Amin b Deepti Sharma 8(11)

After 4 overs, Pakistan 18/1 (Muneeba Ali 11, Sidra Amin 4)

Expensive second over from Renuka as she ends up conceding 13 runs, including two boundaries to Muneeba — the first of the innings. On both occasions, the southpaw decides to loft wide, overpitched deliveries from Renuka over mid off. First bowling change in the following over as seamer Arundhati Reddy replaces spinner Deepti, and she concedes just a single in her first over.

After 2 overs, Pakistan 5/1 (Muneeba Ali 3, Sidra Amin 2)

Spin from the other end after the Women in Blue start with pace from one end as off-spinner Deepti Sharma starts off on a tidy note by conceding four singles. New batter Sidra Amin gets off the mark as a result.

After 1 over, Pakistan 1/1 (Muneeba Ali 1, )

BOWLED! Renuka Singh strikes in the very first over as she castles Gull Feroza for a four-ball duck with an in-swinging delivery that breaches her defence and crashes into the stumps.

Feroza b Renuka 0 (4)

Mel Jones and Anjum Chopra analyse the wicket in Dubai:

MJ: “It’s 37 degrees out in the middle. It evens things out nicely for the batters and for the bowlers. Not much of a breeze. It’s pitch number five.”

AC: “These are tough conditions. It will just force the batters to assess the conditions. Watch for the slowness of the surface. India have no option but to strengthen their spin department as well.”

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, S Sajana, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh

Pakistan: Muneeba Ali(w), Gull Feroza, Sidra Amin, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Omaima Sohail, Fatima Sana(c), Tuba Hassan, Nashra Sandhu, Syeda Aroob Shah, Sadia Iqbal

How they’ve fared so far:

Pakistan — defeated Sri Lanka by 31 runs in Sharjah on Thursday, 3 October

India — lost to New Zealand by 58 runs in Dubai on Friday, 4 October

India vs Pakistan head-to-head record in women’s T20Is:

Matches: 15

India won: 12

Pakistan won: 3