India are in deep trouble after losing to New Zealand in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign opener. The Women in Blue got hammered by the White Ferns at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS).
After a disappointing start to their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign on Friday, October 4, India have now set their sights on arch-rivals Pakistan whom they will be meeting on Sunday, October 6 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS).
Contrary to the expectations, New Zealand got the better of India on Friday by a staggering 58 runs. However, the Women in Blue can still make it to the semis as it is not the end of the road for them and their road to redemption begins with the mother of all clashes.
India will have to win the rest of their matches in Group A and that too with sizeable margins to stand a chance of competing in the semifinals of the marquee tournament.
The game against Pakistan won’t be a walk in the park for Team India. Pakistan are brimming with confidence after beating the reigning Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka by 31 runs.
Pakistan have a young and dynamic leader at the helm in the form of bowling allrounder Fatima Sana. Sana was unstoppable during the encounter against Sri Lanka. She rescued her team from doldrums after they were reduced to 72/5 in 12.3 overs.
Sana played a quickfire 30 off 20 deliveries, including three fours and a maximum and batted at a strike rate of 150.00 to propel Pakistan to a respectable total of 117 runs on the board.
Her heroics weren’t limited to batting as she dismissed her counterpart and Sri Lanka’s biggest match-winner Chamari Athapaththu to put Pakistan on top. She finished with figures of 2/10 and was declared the Player of the Match (POTM).
India have a dominant record against Pakistan in T20Is. The Women in Blue have beaten Pakistan 12 times in 15 matches whereas the latter has only won on three occasions.
India Women squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajeevan Sajana
Pakistan Women Squad: Muneeba Ali (wk), Gull Feroza, Sidra Amin, Nida Dar, Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Tuba Hassan, Sadaf Shamas, Nashra Sandhu, Diana Baig, Iram Javed, Omaima Sohail, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tasmia Rubab
