CWG 2022: It is important to perform as a unit, says Harmanpreet Kaur after win against Pakistan
Jul 31, 2022
Birmingham [UK], July 31 : After registering the win against arch-rival Pakistan by eight wickets in the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Sunday, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said that they will take positives from the game and it was important for them to perform as a unit.
An aggressive half-century from opener Smriti Mandhana powered India to an eight-wicket win over Pakistan in their second T20I match.
Despite facing a defeat in their opening match of the multi-sports event Harmanpreet said that they had a good start and first wins are always important.
"It feels good to win, 1st wins are important. There were a lot of positives today & we would try to continue this ahead. It's important to perform as a unit, we had a good start today & won quickly: Harmanpreet Kaur told ANI.
India opener Shafali Verma, who contributed 16 runs in the victory, said that the cheering from the crowd pushed them to perform better.
"There was a lot of crowd cheering for us, we got a push from that & we won. I have always enjoyed bowling as well as batting. The next match is crucial, we would give our 100% to win," Shafali Verma told ANI.
Talking about the match, Chasing 100 runs, the opening duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put India to an explosive start.
Pakistan bowlers had no answers for this duo, which only deals in boundaries. They brought up their 50-run stand in just 29 balls.
Spinner Tuba Hassan gave Pakistan the breakthrough they wanted, dismissing Verma for 16 off 9 balls after she was caught by Muneeba Ali while playing a late cut.
Sabbhineni Meghana was the next batter on the crease. Mandhana was on a roll. She struck the ball well and brought up her fifty in just 31 balls.
The duo of Meghana and Mandhana kept going before the former was dismissed for 14 off six balls by Omaima Sohail.
Jemimah Rodrigues was next up on the crease. India won the match, finishing at 102/2 in 11.4 overs with Mandhana (63*) and Rodrigues (2*). Sohail and Hassan took a wicket each for Pakistan.
Earlier, Sneh Rana's fiery spell and tight bowling performance by the Indian team helped them bundle out Pakistan for 99 in the 18 overs of the rain-curtailed match of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday.
For India, Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav bagged two wickets each. For Pakistan, Muneeba Ali (32) was the top scorer for them. Opting to bat first, Pakistan's women's team got off to the bad start as they lost their opener Iram Javed who was dismissed by Meghna Singh after scoring zero runs.
Captain Bismah Maroof then came out to bat and started smashing Indian bowlers all around the ground but her stint was cut short by Sneh Rana, scoring just 17 runs in 19 runs.
Rana who was in red-hot form gave another blow to the Pakistan team as she dismissed opener, Muneeba Ali. In the 10 over of the innings, Pakistan batters tried to open hands and play aggressive shots. Women in Blue bind Pakistan batters in all ways and restricted them to play big shots.
Omaima Sohail and Aliya Riaz played some good shots to keep the momentum going in the favour of their team. In the 15th over of the innings, Women in Green lost another wicket as Omaima Sohail was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 10 runs in 13 balls.
Sohail's wicket invited Fatima Sana to the crease. Aliya Riaz played some attacking shots and smashed two fours in the over of Deepti Sharma. Riaz was later departed as she was run out by Meghna Singh after scoring 18 runs in 22 deliveries.
In the last over Pakistani batters could only manage to score just 99 runs. The all-around performance by Women in Blue bundled out Pakistan for 99 runs in 18 overs of the rain-curtailed match.
