Indian Women's Team Overcome Insect Invasion to Sail to Chilly Victory Over Pakistan in Women’s Cricket World Cup
The seam bowler Kranti Goud and spin specialist Sharma took three scalps apiece as India routed their opponents by a substantial margin in their World Cup encounter, starting like recent ones between the countries men’s teams with no handshake from the captains and later included a controversial run-out of a Pakistan opener.
India’s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, did not shake hands with Sana during the toss and the teams departed without greeting each other after the contest amidst political tensions between the two neighboring nations.
The captains at the recent men’s Asia Cup in the UAE also did not shake hands at matches between the two rivals. India has accused their neighbor of being involved in tourist assaults that killed dozens.
Match Summary
India lost the toss, India were dismissed for 247 in their allotted overs. The opening pair, Pratika Rawal and the star batter Smriti Mandhana, shared 48 runs for the first wicket before Sana had her lbw for a 23 off 32. She made 31 runs before she was bowled by spinner Sadia Iqbal. Kaur scored 19 before she was caught behind off Diana Baig.
Deol top-scored for the team with 46 runs and Ghosh made a quick-fire 35 not out to lift their side to a respectable score.
Rodrigues (32), Deepti (25) and Sneh Rana (20) all made valuable contributions, while Diana took 4/69 for Pakistan and the duo had two wickets apiece. Play was stopped for 15 minutes because insects were bothering the players.
Pakistan Batting
Pakistan were dismissed for 159 in 43 overs. Sole fifty of the game in Colombo came from Sidra Amin, who made 81 runs.
The opening wicket was taken in a controversial fashion when the opening batter Muneeba Ali was given out run out. Ali had placed her bat after returning to her crease, having moved forward to attempt a stroke. The bat was then seen to be lifted when an throw hit the stumps. Sana protested to the fourth umpire that the batter was not attempting a run but the decision stood.
Her innings of 106 balls included a maximum and nine boundaries. Goud took 3/20 and Sharma returned three for 45.
