Outside the entry gates of the Dubai International Stadium, fans draped in Indian jerseys stood patiently in long queues to get in as Pakistan made a confident start to their innings after winning the toss in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup game against arch-rivals India on Saturday.
Then, the stadium roared as Pakistan lost their first wicket at 27 in the fifth over, leading to the chants of ‘India…India’ from the fans still waiting to get into the stadium.
Ironically, it was the Pakistan batters from then on who made a beeline to the pavilion as Indian spinners triggered a spectacular collapse.
From 27 for no loss in the fifth over, Pakistan were bowled out for 55 in the 19th over, losing 10 wickets for just 28 runs.
Having killed the Group A match as a contest, India romped home in emphatic style to complete a seven-wicket victory — their third straight win of the tournament.
Smriti Mandhana (9), the Indian batting superstar who became the highest run-scorer in the history of women’s international cricket, failed to get going on Saturday.
But it hardly made a difference as India reached home in just 8.4 overs with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma remaining not out on 18 and 12 respectively with the former finishing the game with a six off Nashra Sandhu.
Skipper Fatima Sana took all three Indian wickets with her gentle medium pace, but her batting unit’s failure to put up a decent total meant challenging India was an impossible task.
Heading into the big clash against the seven-time champions, there were question marks hanging over the Pakistan batting unit.
Muneeba Ali addressed those concerns after minnows Thailand exposed Pakistan’s fragile batting in the opening game when they were restricted to 119 for nine.
If not for Muneeba’s 52-ball 54, Pakistan would have been in far bigger trouble against the Southeast Asian team.
The bowlers saved Pakistan the blushes by earning a 35-run win, but it was apparent that it would be a different ballgame against India — a team they had not beaten since 2022.
The gulf in class was visible once again as Pakistan threw away a good start after opener Muneeba (13) and number three Gull Feroza (0) were dismissed in the space of five balls.
Four balls later, the dismissal of Shawal Zulfiqar (14) completely opened the floodgates as Pakistan completely lost the plot.
While the Indian fans roared every time a wicket fell, each one of them might have hoped to see a better fight from Pakistan.
On the slow wicket, the Indian spinners were on the ball, getting turn and maintaining a tight line to keep the pressure on the batters.
Slow left-armer Shree Charani (4-0-7-3) and leg-spinner Prema Rawat (4-0-9-3) were outstanding with the ball, but the two Indian bowlers were also helped by their opponents’ poor shot selection.
Hitting against the turn was one of the reasons that brought about their downfall as Pakistan slumped to their lowest total in Women’s T20 Internationals.
Pakistan’s previous lowest total was 56 all out against New Zealand at the same stadium in the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
While India had already qualified for the semifinals, Pakistan now face a must-win situation when they face Hong Kong in their final Group A game on Monday.
Source: Khaleej Times