World Cup: India women crush Pakistan to bring up an ODI dozen

Seamer Kranti Goud’s triple strike and another all-round show by Deepti Sharma seal an 88-run win in Colombo

New Delhi: Kranti Goud was the destructor-in-chief on a sluggish Colombo surface, delivering a spell that broke Pakistan’s spine. With figures of 3/20, the seamer allowed no batter to settle. On a day when runs were hard to come by and the R Premadasa Stadium pitch demanded precision with the ball, Goud provided exactly that.

India's Kranti Goud celebrates the wicket of Pakistan's Aliya Riaz during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday. (AP)

India walked into their second World Cup game having never lost to Pakistan in ODIs — 11 wins out of 11 — and left with that record bettered. The huge 88-run win – their second win of the tournament – also made it five straight wins over Pakistan in Women’s World Cups, the joint-most defeats Pakistan have suffered against any opponent in the tournament.

As a result, India climbed to the top of the table with a massive boost to their net run rate. India overcame their batting wobble to score 247 before dismissing Pakistan for 159 in 43 overs.

“It wasn’t easy to bat on, we wanted to bat long and see how much we got. It’s been raining and the ball was holding up on the pitch,” said captain Harmanpreet Kaur. “We wanted to keep wickets in hand, and Richa then gave us 30 (35*) crucial runs. Right now, I’m happy we won. Just want to go with the momentum when we go back to India.”

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana (2/38) trapped Smriti Mandhana plumb in front (23) and Sadia Iqbal’s (2/47) variation beat Rawal to clip the top of off-stump, leaving India at 42/2.

Harleen Deol and Harmanpreet tried to rebuild with a 39-run partnership but struggled to shift gears – an issue that has followed India for a while. Harmanpreet, frustrated by left-arm spin, eventually fell to Baig, a soft dismissal in her second spell.

Jemimah Rodrigues, given a reprieve on a no-ball, looked fluent for her 46 and batted at a healthy strike-rate before left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu (1/52) trapped her while sweeping with a review overturning the not out decision.

From there, Deepti Sharma (25) and Sneh Rana steadied (20) India again, adding 42 runs before Richa Ghosh’s quickfire 35* off 25 balls powered the team in the end, to a total that proved more than enough.

India’s innings, however, exposed the need for potential match-winners Rodrigues and Ghosh batting earlier and facing more overs.

Pakistan’s reply never really took shape. Renuka Singh (0/29), finally making her World Cup debut due to Amanjot Kaur’s illness, bowled a probing first over and Goud stole the show with an opening spell that challenged the Pakistan batters. They got the ball to swing and seam both ways, ensuring from the start that Pakistan were never ahead of the asking rate.

Her caught-and-bowled dismissal of Sadaf Shamas (6) set the tone, followed by the wickets of Aliya Riaz (2) and the well-set Natalia Pervaiz (33). At 28/3, Pakistan were in deep trouble, though Sidra Amin played a memorable innings. As Amin held one end, Pervaiz offered resistance, but Goud returned to break the 69-run stand.

Amin registered the top-score for a Pakistani batter against India, but without support even that gritty effort couldn’t save her team from sliding to defeat. The opener went on to score a composed half-century — the only one in the match. With Amin dismissed for 81 in the 40th over, Pakistan’s already slim chances were dashed.

All-rounder Deepti Sharma had another fine game, scoring 25 and picking 3/45 – dismissing Fatima Sana (2), Rameen Shamim (0) and Sadia Iqbal (0).

India’s win reaffirmed their dominance, though it came with reminders of areas needing attention – slow scoring in the middle overs, uncertain running, poor fielding, review decisions and the need to refine their batting order. With tougher opponents ahead, India will take the points and the lessons from yet another victory over their subcontinent rivals.