Sloppy Indian women suffer narrow loss

Pakistan women came into the game desperate to win against India but it was the host that crumbled under pressure. As a result, India capitulated to a two-run defeat (D/L method) in a low-scoring Group-B encounter at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium here on Saturday — a late Indian fightback and a brief shower only delayed the inevitable.
Chasing 97, Pakistan was down to 77 for six and had needed 20 runs in the last four overs with four wickets in hand when the covers were brought in. With just half-an-hour window for the teams to get back on to field, the likelihood of the match resuming was next to nothing.
With the Duckworth-Lewis par score being 75, Pakistan only had to wait for an official confirmation of the verdict, which duly came. The margin of defeat would surely hurt the Indians, as sloppy fielding cost them at least 10 extra runs besides a missed stumping chance.
Positive intent
The Pakistanis were positive both with the bat and the ball. Nahida Bibi made the team’s intentions clear with two consecutive fours in the first over off Anuja Patil — more than India had managed in the entire PowerPlay (seven for two after six overs).
Earlier, electing to bowl, Pakistan kept up the pressure with accurate bowling and impeccable fielding. No catches were spilled, hardly any misfiled was on view and the bowling was tidy for the most part.
Relying mainly on spin, Pakistan captain Sana Mir led from the front not only with her bowling but with field placing too. Wrong shot selection did not help the India’s cause and a couple of run outs only made it worse.
Pakistan ticked the right boxes on the day for only its second victory over India in T20Is.
The scores: India: Mithali Raj c Sidra Ameen b Nida Dar 16 (35b, 1x4), Vellaswamy Vanitha c Sana Mir b Anam Amin 2 (7b), Smriti Mandhana lbw b Asmavia Iqbal 1 (4b), Harmanpreet Kaur c Sidra Ameen b Sadia Yousuf 16 (29b, 2x4), Veda Krishnamurthy c & b Sana Mir 24 (19b, 3x4), Jhulan Goswami run out 14 (14b), Anuja Patil run out 3 (5b), Shikha Pandey (not out) 10 (7b, 1x6); Extras (lb-1, w-9): 10; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 96.
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Vanitha), 2-5 (Smriti), 3-34 (Mithali), 4-49 (Harmanpreet), 5-71 (Veda), 6-80 (Anuja), 7-96 (Jhulan).
Pakistan bowling: Anam Amin 4-0-9-1, Asmavia Iqbal 4-0-13-1, Sana Mir 4-0-14-1, Sadia Yousuf 3-0-24-1, Bismah Maroof 2-0-12-0, Nida Dar 3-0-23-1.
Pakistan: Nahida Khan c Harmanpreet Kaur b Shikha Pandey 14 (15b, 3x4), Sidra Ameen b Rajeshwari Gayakwad 26 (26b, 3x4), Bismah Maroof c Jhulan Goswami b Harmanpreet 5 (18b), Muneeba Ali (not out) 12 (16b, 1x4), Iram Javed c Mithali Raj b Jhulan Goswami 10 (14b, 2x4), Asmavia Iqbal run out 5 (6b), Sana Mir run out 0 (1b), Nida Dar (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (b-1, w-4): 5; Total (for six wkts. in 16 overs): 77.
Fall of Wickets: 1-19 (Nahida), 2-48 (Sidra), 3-50 (Bismah), 4-71 (Iram), 5-77 (Asmavia), 6-77 (Sana).
India bowling: Anuja Patil 3-0-14-0, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2-0-11-1, Shikha Pandey 2-0-14-1, Jhulan Goswami 4-0-14-1, Poonam Yadav 3-0-14-0, Harmanpreet Kaur 2-0-9-1.
Toss: Pakistan.
Player-of-the-match: Anam Amin