India produced a dominant bowling display to defeat Pakistan by seven wickets in the Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai on Saturday, September 5.
Pakistan were bowled out for just 55, their lowest-ever total in women’s T20I cricket. India chased down the target with 68 balls to spare, finishing on 57 for 3.
N Shree Charani was the star of India’s bowling attack, claiming 3 for 7, while Prema Rawat also impressed with 3 for 9 from her four overs. Rawat bowled 19 dot balls and kept Pakistan’s batters under constant pressure.
Pakistan’s innings collapsed dramatically after a promising start. They slipped from 27 for no loss to 35 for 6, losing six wickets for just eight runs in 29 balls. Shawaal Zulfiqar was the only batter to offer meaningful resistance, scoring 14 from 14 deliveries.
Charani struck twice in her opening over, using flight, drift and turn to trouble Pakistan’s batters. Her dismissal of Gull Feroza set the tone for India’s dominant performance.
The match also marked Pakistan’s 200th women’s T20I. However, their batting struggles prevented them from putting up a competitive total, with only their two openers reaching double figures.
India also experienced an early wobble during the chase. Fatima Sana removed Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana in the second over, with Verma reaching 3,000 T20I runs during her innings. Mandhana’s dismissal came through a contentious lbw decision, with no DRS available at the tournament to review the call.
Harmanpreet Kaur then took control of the chase alongside Deepti Sharma. Harmanpreet, who became the first player in men’s or women’s T20I cricket to captain her country in 150 matches, scored the winning runs as India completed a comfortable seven-wicket victory.
Despite the heavy defeat, Pakistan remain in contention for a place in the semi-finals. They now need to beat Hong Kong to keep their campaign alive, although another batting performance like this could prove costly in the knockout stages.
