INDIA begin World Cup campaign with a 64 run win against PAKISTAN

ICC 10th WOMEN's WORLD CUP - Match 6 – India v Pakistan at Birmingham on 14 June 2026

Result – India beat Pakistan by 64 runs

Points - India 2(2), Pakistan 0(0)

Toss - India

Umpires – Claire Polosak, Jacqueline Williams, Eloise Sheridan (TV)

Player of the Match – Deepti Sharma

Match Centre Link - You can view the scorecard, watch highlights and engage more at Match Centre of ICC. The match can be accessed here. 

INDIA INNINGS

POWER PLAY – PAK PACK A PUNCH
The 6^th match of the 10th Womens T20 World Cup featured neighbours India and Pakistan and the words rivalry, handshakes pride etc made it to news and headlines. The atmosphere was set with legends Mithali Raj and Sana Mir bringing in the trophy, the national anthems and the toss and the maximum crowd (18000+) were already charged for the game.  India won the toss and chose to bat. While Shafali Varma and Smriti Mandhana representing new age prose and poetry opened the batting for India, Sadia Iqbal was to open the bowling for Pakistan. Sadia’s first ball was thumped over long off by Shafali for a six and that sent the crowd to raptures. Sadia responded well with 3 dot balls and reaped her reward in the 5^th ball when she forced Shafali to nick one to keeper Muneeba Ali. Skipper Fatima Sana came in from the other end and kept Smriti Mandhana & Jemimah Rodrigues at bay just conceding 3 runs in the over. Sadia’s 3^rd over was characterized by 4 dots and 2 gorgeous boundaries by Smriti Mandhana. Tasmia Rubab came in first change and took Jemimah caught out by Natalia Parvaiz of a top edge. She conceded just 2 more runs in the over. Rameem Shamim bowled the 5^th over gifted a couple of loose deliveries and Smriti converted them both to boundaries. Skipper Fatima Sana came back to close the power play. She started with a no ball but did well on free hit. She finished the over with a with a boundary which went narrowly past her on her followthrough. India scored 38/2 in power play which was comparatively low in terms of their standards and expectations. Pakistan bowlers led by a vocal skipper Fatima performed relatively better given their history. However India had its two experienced campaigners, Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and that was reassuring.

MIDDLE OVERS – CONSOLIDATION IF NOT CONVINCING
Rameem quietly completed a 3 run 7^th over. With Fatima mixing spin with pace, Tasmia bowled the 8^th over where Indian batters could find only singles. In the 5^th ball, she forced Smriti to mistime and Aliya Riaz dropped the catch at mid off. The dichotomy of the capacity crowd was visible with delights and dismays. Nashra Sandhu came in to bowl the 9^th over. The over was marked by 4 dots and 2 boundaries again with Harmanpreet driving her way to one & sweeping her way to another. Smriti began the 10^th over with a six as she danced down to Tasmia’s slower one & deposited it over the field for a six. Even then India’s half way score of 65/2 didn’t look convincing. However Harman & Smriti were consolidating the innings well.

Nashra bowled the 11^th over well except for one floater which Smriti played inside out for a boundary. Rameem came in to ensure spin from both ends but Smriti was better prepared this time lofting the 2^nd ball & 3^rd ball over the off side for boundaries. She had her 34 ball 50 in the 2^nd ball. She missed the 4^th ball and thankfully Muneeba also missed a stumping chance. Sadia’s 13^th over brought the impetus India was looking all along. Sadia began with the wide & her first legal ball was  dispatched by Smriti straight to the throat of deep mid wicket. Saira Jabeen spilled the catch and the ball fell over the ropes. Harman swept the 3^rd ball for a leg side boundary and drove the 4^th ball for an off side boundary. India brought its 100 in the over too. Rameem continued from the other end. Smriti gorgeously pulled one more over the extra cover for a boundary. However when she tried to do the same thing in the leg side the next ball, Fatima Sana came charging in to complete a brilliant catch. Sadia deceived new comer Bharti Fulmali by flight and had her stumped in the next over. Richa opened her innings with four but Sadia & Nashra didn’t allow easy runs in the next 2 overs. At end of 16 overs, India were 122/4 and 160 looked a realistic target. Pakistan needed to find wickets to break any chances of India’s flourishing finish

DEATH OVERS – RICHA’s RICH DIFFERENCE
Fatima Sana brought the Pakistan supporters alive when she dismissed her opposite skipper in 16.2. Nashra cut down the pace in the next over and Richa’s frustration was visible when she couldn’t score of 3 balls in succession. Tasmia’s 19th over however tilted the innings in India’s favour. Deepti wonderfully placed a boundary in 1^st ball and took a single in 2^nd ball, Richa lofted her for a boundary over cover in 3^rd ball, cleared the long in the 4^th ball for a six, cut one over short fine leg for a boundary and pulled one across long on for a boundary. The 23 run penultimate over gave India the ultimate advantage. Richa hit a boundary of Fatima and forced her to err on line and got 5 wides before Fatima struck back dismissing Richa’s stumps beating her for pace. Shreyanka faced the last ball which was reviewed for caught behind. The DRS confirmed it was glove and India ended at 170/6. Richa’s 34 at 200 SR made a rich difference to the total. With the pitch favouring spin, India had the advantage and PAK batters needed to pull a rabbit out of their hat to chase this one.

PAKISTAN INNINGS

POWER PLAY – ADVANTAGE PAKISTAN

Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza were ready for the chase with Arundhati Reddy opening the bowling for India. Muneeba Ali made her intent clear when she stashed Arundhati to boundary over short third. Shreyanka opened from the other end and confirmed that spinners were getting better purchase. She just conceded 3 runs & Richa dropped Muneeba in a sharp edge. Harman like Fathima bought pace in the other end and a delighted Pakistan openers used Kranti Goud’s pace to score 3 boundaries in the over. The 14 run 3^rd over improved the confidence of both Muneeba & Gull. They decided to take the attack on Shreyanka in the 4^th over. They found a boundary each with Gull pulling one over midwicket and Muneeba sweeping fine. Muneeba gave another chance but Arundhati dropped her this time at point. India brought their best spinner Deepti in the 5^th over and she straightaway stopped the flow of runs bowling 3 dots to Muneeba. Deepti had her reward in the 5^th ball when she had Gull depositing a full length delivery straight to Bharti at point. Arundhati was brought in to close the power play and Ayesha Zafar made maximum use of pace and field restrictions to clobber a couple of boundaries. Pakistan finished power play at 52/1 and in comparison with India, they looked much ahead. The Indian spin trio had their task cut out in the middle overs.  

MIDDLE OVERS – SPINNING IT INDIA’S WAY
Deepti bowled the 7^th over after drinks break and got a breakthrough in the 3^rd ball as Ayesha’s sweep was taken well at short fine leg by Smriti. Sreecharani in her World Cup debut over forced the leading edge of Saira Jabeen and Harmanpreet took it with open hands. Deepti started the 9^th over with a LBW appeal against Natalia Pervaiz which wasn’t given and wasn’t successful on DRS too. Muneeba tried keeping up the momentum and finally found a boundary in the 10^th over bowled by Sreecharani. She hit the ball well and placed it perfectly to bisect the gap at deep square leg. At half way mark, Pakistan were 72/3 as the spin combo of Deepti & Sreecharani gave just 20 runs for 2 wickets in 4 overs. Shreyanka was chosen to bowl the 11^th over and she titled the game at 10.5. While Natalia tried to steal a quick single pushing a slow ball to the backward point. Deepti’s direct hit saw Muneeba an iota short. Pakistan were in dire straits and only Fatima Sana’s brilliance could save them through. Shafali was invited to bowl the 12^th over and her lucky arm ensured that she had Fatima scooping the ball straight to Smriti at point. Four balls later, Sreecharani bowled a fuller one and Natalia like her skipper played it straight to Harman at point. At 83/6 in 13, India had thoroughly made their way back to the game. Aliya Riaz and Rameem Shamim were negotiating the all spin attack of India. Shreyanka Patil produced the catch of the tournament when she flew in from backward point to grab an outside edge from Rameem of Sreecharani in 14.4. When Aliya lifted Shafali over the cover for a boundary in 15.5, the last boundary seemed ages ago. After 16 overs with PAK at 104/7, Aliya was waging a lone battle in company of Nashra Sandhu. PAK needed more than a miracle.

DEATH OVERS – DEEPTI DOESN’T TAKE IT DEEP
Deepti finished the match in the 17^th over. In the 2^nd ball, she flighted one to Aliya who neither had the power or angle and found Jemi at deep mid wicket. In the 4^th ball, Tasmia Rubab played out an action replay of the same shot and Jemi  happily played on. In the last ball, she forced Nashra to chip one straight to Harman at short mid wicket. Deepti got a fifer and her 5/10 was the best bowling attack by an Indian in World Cup beating Renuka’s 5/15. She also went past Thailand’s Thipatcha Putthawong to become the leading T20I wicket taker in the world with 166 international T20I wickets. While batting, India had a shaky start with the bat but consolidated well in the middle overs and finished with flourish. While bowling, Indian spinners helped the team recover from a shaky start and spun the match on its toes. The spin quartet of Shreyanka – Deepti – Sreecharani & Shafali had a combined figures of 14-0-70-10 and helped India overcome the PAK challenge.

(Images Courtesy ESPN Cricinfo)