Coming into the eagerly awaited India–Pakistan showdown at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium, the threat of rain loomed large, following the washout of the earlier Australia–Sri Lanka match. But the weather behaved and opened the doors to a nail-biting encounter where India again proved their superiority over their long-time rivals by crushing them by an impressive 88 runs in the 2025 Women's World Cup on Sunday.
In defense of 247, India bowlers put up a clinical show. Kranti Gaud (3/20) and Deepti Sharma (3/45) were the prime movers as they bowled out Pakistan for 159 in 43 overs. The victory was India's 12th consecutive one against Pakistan in the format and took them to the number one position in the points table.
Kranti and Renuka Singh Thakur established the tone early, having a resolute stump-to-stump line while being able to extract swing and seam movement. Their unwavering accuracy kept Pakistan's leading order bamboozled, taking them miles away from the required run rate in the first 15 overs — a deficit they could never bridge.
Even after a gallant 81 off 106 balls from Sidra Amin, Pakistan's batting line stumbled. Sidra, who completed her half-century in 82 balls and lived four dropped opportunities, received little support from colleagues as India's bowlers maintained their dominance.
Pakistan’s innings lacked conviction from the outset, with their batters looking clueless against Renuka and Kranti’s inswingers. Although India missed three straightforward LBW opportunities and wasted both reviews, the bowlers maintained immense pressure throughout. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh’s two missed catches could have made the margin of victory even larger.
One of the strangest dismissals was when Muneeba Ali was run out by a direct hit from Deepti Sharma after she had briefly raised her bat even though she had grounded it first. Shortly after, Sadaf Shamas got a caught-and-bowled soft dismissal off Kranti, who then sent Aliya Riaz packing with an edge to second slip.
Following Natalia Pervaiz's initial flurry with Kranti and Renuka, she attempted to counter-attack with lofting and sweeping Sneh Rana for a couple of fours, while Sidra Amin dispatched a six and a four against both Sneh and N. Shree Charani. Natalia also took consecutive boundaries against Deepti Sharma, courtesy of a dropped catch by Richa that provided Sidra with yet another reprieve.
The pair's 69-run stand provided some semblance of resistance until Kranti struck again, sending Natalia hitting one directly to backward point. After she left, Pakistan's batting collapsed quite quickly. Sidra battled on solo but was left without partners as Fatima Sana Khan, Sidra Nawaz, and Rameen Shamim got out in quick order. Sidra's determined innings came to an end at 81 when she swept Sneh Rana to square leg, sealing Pakistan's fate.
Earlier, India’s batting unit struggled to build momentum on a sluggish surface, managing 247 thanks to a late surge. Despite multiple starts, no batter managed a big score until Richa Ghosh’s quickfire 35 not out, which provided vital runs in the death overs. India’s innings featured 173 dot balls, with their scoring rate stalling at several points due to Pakistan’s disciplined, wicket-to-wicket bowling.
At 159/5 in the 35th over, India seemed exposed. But a finishing flourish — 44 from the last four overs — pushed the total to a fighting one. The innings was quite protracted, lasting almost four hours because of several stoppages, including one for 15 minutes to drive out a pest in the stands.
India got off to a strong start with Pratika Rawal hitting three successive boundaries against Diana Baig, then followed by Smriti Mandhana's beautiful square drives and cuts. Pakistan retaliated, however, when Fatima Sana got Smriti lbw with the batter losing her review in the bargain.
Harleen Deol batted confidently, cutting and lofting boundaries, but Pratika was bowled by Sadia Iqbal's faster delivery. Diana then got Harmanpreet Kaur to nick one down leg to the keeper and nearly out Jemimah Rodrigues, only to be foiled by a no-ball.
Jemimah's stroke play with pulls and sweeps steadied the innings, but Harleen's departure for 46 off a mistimed loft gave Pakistan another chance. Following an all-too-brief pest-control break, Jemimah was lbw to Nashra Sandhu for 32, and Sneh Rana, promoted unexpectedly over Richa, found it tough to get the timing right before she was caught off Fatima.
Deepti Sharma's bid to hasten was foiled in Diana's wicket-maiden over, and while Sree Charani fell soon afterwards, Richa's belated pyrotechnics — two sixes and a four — saw India's total touch nearly 250. The last flourish proved sufficient, as India went on to secure a commanding victory in their fourth straight Sunday win over Pakistan.
Brief Scores: India 247 in 50 overs (Harleen Deol 46, Richa Ghosh 35 not out; Diana Baig 4-69, Fatima Sana Khan 2-38) beat Pakistan 159 in 43 overs (Sidra Amin 81, Natalia Pervaiz 33; Kranti Goud 3-20, Deepti Sharma 3-45) by 88 runs
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