The Indian Men’s cricket fraternity has lauded the valiant effort of the Indian Women’s Cricket team after they beat Pakistan in the opening match of their T20 World Cup. Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh were the architects of the win as they steered India to a seven-wicket win with six balls to spare in the innings. After the win, the likes of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter and congratulated the Women’s team.
Sachin and Virat applaud Women in Blue
"Watched the game with Anjali & Arjun and we thoroughly enjoyed cheering for our Indian Women's team. A good start by Shafali, Jemimah paced her innings beautifully along with a good burst from Richa towards the end. Wonderful to see India win AGAIN! #INDvsPAK," tweeted Sachin.
Star Indian batter Virat Kohli also congratulated Women in Blue for their win in a "high-pressure game" and said that leaps being taken by women's side in every tournament is going to inspire a generation of women.
"What a win from our women's team against Pakistan in a high-pressure game and a tough run chase," tweeted Virat.
"The women's team is taking such giant leaps ahead with every tournament we play and it's going to inspire a whole generation of girls to take up the sport and take women's cricket higher and higher. More power to all of you. God bless," added Virat in another tweet.
Former India skipper and batter Mithali Raj also lauded India on their "marvelous" victory.
"Excellent start for #TeamIndia! It was a tense chase but both @JemiRodrigues and @13richaghosh rose to the occasion and completed a marvelous victory. Well done and best wishes for the upcoming encounters. @BCCIWomen #INDvPAK" tweeted Mithali.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah also lauded the "energy and fighting spirit" shown by all the players.
"What a match! The energy and fighting spirit showcased by all the players was brilliant. Congratulations #TeamIndia for an outstanding win. This has surely set the tone for a great tournament. More power to you, girls! #INDvPAK #T20WorldCup@BCCIWomen," tweeted Shah.
Indian middle-order batter Cheteshwar Pujara also lauded Women in Blue for the "top win".
"Top win to start the tournament. Great performance by everyone. Congratulations @BCCIWome. Keep the momentum going! #INDvsPAK," tweeted Pujara.
Indian World Cup-winning all-rounder Yuvraj Singh lauded the trio of Shafali Verma, Rodrigues and Richa for their knocks that helped the side win the match.
"And it's a wrap! A remarkable run chase by the champions #WomenInBlue. Great innings by @JemiRodrigues,@TheShafaliVerma and @13richaghosh to bring the team home . On to the next one. Keep up the momentum girls! @BCCIWomen @BCCI #INDvPAK@T20WorldCup," tweeted Yuvraj.
Coming to the match, Pakistan put on a total of 149/4 in 20 overs after electing to bat first. After the team was reduced to 68/4 in 12.1 overs, it was skipper Bismah Maroof (68* off 55 balls) and Ayesha Naseem (43* off 25 balls) which pulled back Pakistan into the contest with an 81-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Spinner Radha Yadav (2/21) was the pick of the bowlers for India. All-rounder Deepti Sharma also picked up one wicket.
Chasing 150, opener Shafali Verma (33 off 25 balls) played a solid knock to provide a good start to Women in Blue's run-chase. Yastika Bhatia (17) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (16) failed to make much impact with the bat. India was left in a tricky situation at 93/3 in 13.3 overs.
ALSO READ | WPL Auction: From key players to maximum salary purse to minimum squad strength, know all details
Jemimah and Richa lead the way
From there, Jemimah teamed up with wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh and won the game for India. Richa played a hard-hitting cameo of 31* in just 20 balls, which provided great support to Jemimah's anchoring effort.
With this, India completed the second-highest run chase in the history of the tournament. The highest run chase was pulled off by England against Australia in 2009, when the former chased down the target of 164 runs set by the Aussies. Nashra Sandhu took 2/15 in four overs. Sadia Iqbal also picked up 1/25 in four overs. Jemimah was the 'Player of the Match' for her half-century.
