IND-W vs PAK-W Women's Asia Cup T20 2022: The Pakistan women's cricket team on Friday handed India their first loss of the tournament as they defeated the women in blue by 13 runs. The Indian team lost wickets at regular intervals and fell short of the 138-run target at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Sylhet. For Pakistan, Nida Dar starred with a brilliant all-round show that won her then Player of the match award too.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan managed to get 137 in 20 overs on the back of decent knocks from Nida Dar and captain Bismah Maroof. They started carefully but lost three wickets inside the powerplay. Pooja Vastrakar scalped the first wicket for India, while Deepti Sharma took two in one over. India kept things under check but Dar and Maroof stitched a crucial partnership of 76 runs. Maroof soon departed for 32 but Dar kept playing her shots as she remained unbeaten for 56 off 37 balls to help her team score 137. For India, Deepti Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets.
Coming into the chase, India too started well but lost wickets in succession. S Meghana, who played well in the earlier two matches was the first one to go followed by the in-form Jemimah Rodrigues. India gave chances to other batters in the middle but that didn't work out. No batter managed to spend a good time in the middle. However, Richa Ghosh gave India a glitter of hope with her 26-run cameo off 13 but once she departed, it was merely a formality. India got bowled out for 124 in 19.4 overs and gave Pakistan thier third win in the tournament.
With this, India have faced their first loss in the ongoing Asia Cup. The Women in blue earlier won all of their three matches, one each against Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and UAE. The Harmanpreet-Kaur-led side is still at the top of the points table as they have a better net run rate than Pakistan even after winning an equal number of matches. The women in blue will next square off against defending champions Bangladesh on October 8.
