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India captain Harmanpreet Kaur hit a steely 29 to lead her side to a narrow six-wicket win over Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday.
After restricting Pakistan to 105-8 in their 20 overs, India were 106 ahead of victory and at 61-1, India seemed content. But two wickets in two balls from Pakistan captain Fatima Sana opened the door before Kaur took her team to the brink of victory.
However, when India were two runs short, she slipped and appeared to strain her neck, leaving the field unbeaten on 29 off 24 balls.
Sajeevan Sajana scored the crucial runs off the next delivery as India closed on 108-4, winning with seven balls to spare.
“We were very disciplined and followed the plans,” said Smriti Mandhana from India. “We were very good in the field. A better start with the bat would have been good, but we will get this win.”
Nida Dar top-scored for Pakistan with 28 off 34 balls but there was little to celebrate after Fatima won the toss and chose to bat on a wicket that produced an awkward bounce.
“We weren’t up to par in our batting. We were 10 to 15 runs short,” said Fatima.
All the Indian bowlers did their part, with Arundhati Reddy being the most successful as she took down Omaima Sohail (3) and Aliya Riaz (4) in the middle order before bowling Dar clean in the last over to take 3-19 from her four overs completed.
“I worked a lot on my T20 bowling in all phases of the innings. I’m still working hard now. I kept it simple and attacked the stumps,” said Reddy, who was voted player of the match.
India lost Mandhana for seven but Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues took them to 61 before the second wicket fell in the 12th over.
Verma, their impressive 20-year-old opener, hit three fours in a 35-ball 32 game before reaching out to mid-on.
That gave Pakistan a sliver of a chance, but Kaur ensured India took 13 out of 16 wins against Pakistan in the T20Is.
This was a much-needed win for India in Group A after losing their opening match against New Zealand. They remain fourth in the group with Pakistan just ahead of them in net run rate.
India will face Sri Lanka in their next match in Dubai on Wednesday while Pakistan will face favorites Australia on Friday.
The West Indies face Scotland in Sunday’s late game in Dubai, with both teams having lost their opening games in Group B.
e.g./pb
