Women's World T20 2018: Mithali Raj leads India to seven-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan

Guyana: Veteran Mithali Raj smashed a aggressive half century to guide India to an easy 7-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Women’s World T20 here on Sunday. Raj anchored the Indian run chase with a 47-ball 56 which she made with the help of seven fours in the Group B match which was marred by unprecedented docking of 10 penalty runs on Pakistan. [caption id=“attachment_5534161” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mithali Raj scored 56 off 47 balls. ICC[/caption] Even before a ball being faced, 10 runs were on India’s scoreboard after Pakistan were docked five-run penalty twice during their innings on account of their batswomen running on the danger area of the pitch during their innings. India chased down the target of 134 with six balls to spare, reaching 137 for 3 in 19 overs. Previous game centurion and captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy remained not out on 14 and 8 respectively. With the win on Sunday, India (with four points) made a big step towards making it to the semifinals from the five-team Group B. Two teams each from the two groups qualify for the semifinals. India also avenged their narrow 2-run defeat under D/L method against Pakistan in New Delhi in the previous edition of the tournament in 2016. India made a strong start with openers Raj and Smriti Mandhana (26) finding the boundaries at regular intervals in their 73-run stand from 9.3 overs. Mandhana fell to Bismah Maroof with Omaima Sohail taking a superb catch at deep square leg. The 18-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues (16), who scored a half century in the previous game against New Zealand, seemed to continue from where she left but she played a shot too many and perished in the process, caught and bowled by Nida Dar in the 15th over. Earlier, Indian bowlers pinned Pakistan down for most part of their innings before allowing them to wriggle out for 133 for 7. Opting to field after winning the toss, India made a great start with the ball, reducing Pakistan to 30 for 3 in the seventh over. Pakistan made a fine recovery thanks to half centuries from Bismah Maroof (53) and Nida Dar (52) as the duo stitched 93 runs for the fourth wicket to take their side to a competitive total. India also dropped at least three easy catches, which allowed Pakistan to come back into the Group B match. Opening bowler Arundhati Reddy immediately gave India the breakthrough by having Ayesha Zafar caught at the slips by Veda Krishnamurthy for nought in the final delivery of the first over. Pakistan were yet to open account then and they could have been in a worse situation had Smriti Mandhana not dropped captain Javeria Khan in the third over. But two run-outs in the space of three overs gave India the upper hand. First an outstanding direct throw from 18-year old Jemimah Rodrigues sent Umaima Sohail back to the pavilion in the fourth over while captain Javeria witnessed the same fate in the seventh over after a mixed-up. Pakistan were on the ropes but India allowed them to gain grounds by having three dropped catches. All the three were regulation catches. Veda Krishnamurthy dropped Nida Dar while on 15 in the 11th over. Poonam Yadav dropped the same batswoman in the 13th over when she was on 23. The next over, Poonam made a mess of a Bismah Maroof skier as she completely misjudged the trajectory of the ball. Pakistan were still not out of the woods as they could only reach 53 for 3 at the half-way stage but the sloppy Indian fielding allowed their two batswomen Dar and Maroof to gain in confidence. The Pakistani duo began to hit boundaries at regular intervals and both reached to their fifties towards the end of the innings. Maroof was the first to reach to her fifty in the 17th over while Dar did the same in the next over. But both were out in the same 19th over in the space of three balls with Dayalan Hemalatha picking the two wickets. Poonam Yadav then scalped two Pakistani wickets in the final over – that of Aliya Riaz (4) and Sana Mir (0). Pakistan were penalised for five runs twice during their innings for their batswomen running on the danger area. Thus, 10 runs were added to India’s innings when they come out to bat.