Unconvincing India beat rivals Pakistan for first win

Women’s T20 World Cup, Dubai

Pakistan 105-8 (20 overs): Dar 28 (34); Reddy 3-19

India 108-4 (18.5 overs): Harmanpreet 29* (24); Sana 2-23

India won by six wickets

Scorecard. Table

India beat Pakistan by six wickets for their first win of the Women’s T20 World Cup, but remain in a precarious position in the group-stage table because of their puzzling approach with the bat.

A heavy defeat by New Zealand saw India’s net run-rate plummet, but they still took 18.5 overs to chase just 106 against their rivals.

It was a comfortable chase in the end with such little scoreboard pressure, but Fatima Sana’s two wickets in two balls in the 16th over, with 26 runs still needed, kept Pakistan in the hunt.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur showed composure with 29 from 24 balls, though she had to retire hurt with two runs required, leaving Sajeevan Sajana to hit the winning runs from her first ball.

The nerves had increased because there was such little intent or urgency throughout the modest chase, with the usually aggressive opener Shafali Verma making 32 from 35 balls and Jemimah Rodrigues adding 23 from 28.

Bowlers dominated in both innings, with no batter looking particularly comfortable in timing the ball as seamer Arundhati Reddy starred with 3-19 for India.

Nida Dar top-scored with 28 from 34 balls for Pakistan but they lost wickets regularly, and failed to put a decent partnership together to put India’s bowlers under the pump.

In contrast, India managed to keep wickets in hand, which made their approach even more perplexing as they crawled to 25-1 after the six-over powerplay without hitting a boundary.

But they are off the mark and though they will be favourites in their next match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, are still under huge pressure to reach the semi-finals with defending champions Australia still to come in their group.

Pakistan are also still in contention but also face a significant challenge as Australia are their next opponents on Friday.

India were under significant scrutiny coming into their second match after they were stunned by New Zealand, with all of their matches being essentially must-win because of the fact heavy favourites Australia are also in their group.

It may have been gritty and they made hard work of it, but the tournament so far has not favoured a particularly free-flowing style of cricket, with New Zealand’s 160 the only total of more than a run a ball so far.

Harmanpreet marshalled her bowlers expertly after losing the toss, with leg-spinner Asha Sobhana’s two easy dropped chances the only blemish in an otherwise very professional effort.

The wickets were shared, with seamer Renuka Singh Thakur removing Gull Feroza in the first over to peg Pakistan back, before Shreyanka Patil, Deepti Sharma and Reddy worked their way through a nervous-looking middle order.

The captain could only watch as her openers tentatively prodded their way through the powerplay, with Smriti Mandhana first to fall for seven from 16 balls.

And while the total never felt beyond their control, it felt tense and frustrating throughout before Harmanpreet’s arrival as the captain decided to set an example, using her feet and running hard between the wickets to finally score at a strike-rate of beyond 100.

She was injured while scrambling back into her crease after Muneeba Ali missed a stumping, and seemed to hurt her neck or shoulder, so India will be hoping for a swift recovery because an in-form and confident Harmanpreet, with the added incentive of a point to prove, could go a long way in deciding whether they make it out of the group.

Smriti Mandhana, standing in for captain Harmanpreet Kaur: “I think it’s too soon to say anything [about Harmanpreet]. She’s with the medical staff, but hopefully it’s not too bad.

“Our bowling team was disciplined, they followed our plans but a better start with the bat would have been nice. We will take momentum from this game.”

England bowler Tash Farrant on BBC Test Match Special: “It was a convincing win for India in the end but a baffling one as well because we thought that, after keeping Pakistan down to that low total of 105, they were going to come out all guns blazing and try to get that total as quickly as they could.

“They have got their first win on the board, but I don’t think it will have put much fear into the other teams they are going to face in the group stages.”