Srinagar: A day after going down against Thailand, Pakistan womens cricket team bounced back strongly as they beat archrivals India by 13 runs in the match of the Womens Asia Cup 2022 on Friday.
Nida Dar turned out as star for Pakistan, shining with both bat and ball.
Nida scored 56* off 37 to power her side to a strong 137 for 6. She then snared the big wickets of Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur to drive her side to a 13-run win.
After being reduced to 33/3 in the powerplay after electing to bat, the experienced duo of Dar and Bismah Maroof stitched an impressive 76-run stand with Dar playing the aggressor. She hit five fours and a six in her knock and despite not getting the flourish Pakistan required at the death, they got to a score they could work with.
After a brisk start, Sabbhineni Meghana’s attempts to hit Nashra Sandhu out of the attack backfired. Rodrigues then survived two reprieves but still fell for 2. Sandhu then dismissed Smriti Mandhana to leave India in a hole at 50/3. Curiously, the returning skipper Harmanpreet Kaur opted to demote herself down the order, a move that didn’t work on the day as Dayalan Hemalatha, Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma became victims of a growing required rate and a stifling display of spin bowling.
Once Kaur fell with 47 still to get, the writing was on the wall. But Richa Ghosh, who had to go off the field in the first innings due to a heat stroke, kept the flickering flame alive with three sixes and a four in a 13-ball knock of 26. She brought the equation down to 18 off 10 before finishing second best in another attempt to clear the field. Pakistan romped home to victory thereafter.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 137/6 in 20 overs (Nida Dar 56*, Bismah Maroof 32; Deepti Sharma 3-27) beat India 124 in 19.4 overs (Richa Ghosh 26; Nashra Sandhu 3-30, Nida Dar 2-23) by 13 runs.
