India finally made a mark in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 with a six-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (October 6).
The Harmanpreet KaurThe -led side started their campaign with a 58-run defeat against New Zealand. India were bowled out for just 102 runs after New Zealand finished their innings at 160/4. After the heavy loss, the Women in Blue needed a strong display against Pakistan and they put up a fine performance.
Bowling first, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side restricted Pakistan to a modest total of 105/8. Nida Dar scored 28 runs off 34 balls to top score for her team. Apart from him, no other member of his team could even reach the 20-run mark. Arundhati Reddy took three wickets and Shreyanka Patil took two wickets for India.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side with the bat got off to a nervous start. Star batsman Smriti Mandhana failed to make an impact with the bat and departed in the fifth over after scoring just 7 runs off 16 balls. Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues then steadied the ship with a 43-run stand.
At 61/1, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side looked set for a comfortable win before losing three successive wickets to find themselves reeling at 80/4.
However, Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma crossed the 100-run mark before the former retired injured when the team needed only 2 runs. Team India finally crossed the finish line in 18.5 overs to open their account in T20 World Cup 2024.
Selection Scenario for India in T20 World Cup 2024:
With a win over Pakistan, Harmanpreet & Co. launched his campaign. India have two more group games in the World Cup. They will face the Asian champions Sri Lanka first before they face the current champions Australia.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side needs to win both the games to remain in a strong position for a place in the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals. Only the top two teams from the five teams in the group will advance to the last four. If India win their remaining two games, they can reach maximum six points.
If New Zealand can stun Australia, six points will be enough for the Women in Blue to qualify for the next round. However, if all three teams finish with the same score, their fate will be decided by Net Run Rate (NRR).
If the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side fail to beat Australia, their hopes will rest on New Zealand losing to both Australia and Pakistan, or Australia losing to both New Zealand and Pakistan. In this case, the two teams will finish with four points and their fate will be decided by NRR.
