Bay Oval: India registered a mammoth victory of 107-run against Pakistan in the opening World Cup game for both teams on Sunday at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. The Women in Blue had begun their quest with a won owing to a valiant batting performance and a clinical bowling performance.
Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana’s record rearguard 122-run stand, Smriti Mandhana’s 52, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s 4 for 31 helped India to dominate in the match. Defending 244, India swept Pakistan out for 137 in 43 overs, courtesy to 18-year-old Richa Ghosh, who made history by becoming the first World Cup debutant to take five wickets.
The Women in Blue had been consistent enough to post 200-plus scores. India registered 244-7 in 50 overs. They got off to a slow start, but Smriti and Deepti Sharma’s partnership helped India gain control, as they reached 92/1 in 21 overs. Smriti then smacked a half-century, her 25th half-century in one-day internationals. Pakistan, on the other hand, eventually found a breakthrough when Nashra Sandhu dismissed Deepti Sharma for only 40 runs.
India was set back again when Pakistan grabbed a massive wicket as Anam Amin grabbed the catch of Smriti. The southpaw was looking in great touch during her 52-run knock while India stood at 98/3 in 24.1 overs.
Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana elegantly re-started India’s innings following Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Richa Ghosh being sent to the pavilion too soon.
Rana scored an unbeaten 53 off 48, laced with four boundaries while Vastrakar pulled off a 59-ball 67 comprising eight boundaries as the seventh-wicket pair stitched a 122-run stand. The partnership is not just the highest for the wicket in the Women’s World Cup, but also in ODIs, surpassing the unbeaten 104-run stand between New Zealand’s NJ Browne and SJ Tsukigawa in 2007 against England in Chennai.
Fatima managed to castle Pooja Vastrakar on the first delivery but a Jhulan Goswami finishes it off with a boundary. Top-class knocks from Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana under pressure to pull India to a challenging total of 244/7 in 50 overs.
From 114/6 to 244/7 👊
India recover from a difficult situation thanks to brilliant innings from Pooja Vastrakar (67) and Sneh Rana (53*).
Can Pakistan chase it down?#CWC22 pic.twitter.com/RKcOF7KtsR
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 6, 2022
While bowlers were a big concern until the match. The Indian bowlers performed exceptionally well as Pakistan were bundled out for just 137 in 43 overs. Rajeshwari Gayakwad was the pick of the bowlers as the left-arm spinner claimed four wickets. While Jhulan Goswami and Sneh Rana shared two-wicket each. And Meghna Singh got Diana Baig to seal the game for Indian women.
India start off their #CWC22 campaign in style 👏
They register a commanding victory against arch-rivals Pakistan 🙌 #PAKvIND pic.twitter.com/s8Di9Dg9qi
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 6, 2022
With this win, the Indian women’s team maintained its unbeaten record against Pakistan.
Brief Scores:
India Women 244/7 in 50 overs (Pooja Vastrakar 67, Sneh Rana 53 not out; Nashra Sandhu 2/36)
Pakistan Women (Sidra Ameen 30, Diana Baig 24; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 4/31) lost by 107 runs.
