India produced another authoritative performance against Pakistan in the Women’s Asia Cup, extending their winning streak against their neighbours to five T20Is.
Pakistan decided to bat first but struggled to score freely on a Dubai surface that assisted the Indian spinners.
N Sree Charani and Prema Rawat spearheaded the attack, taking three wickets each as Pakistan folded for only 55 in 18.1 overs.
Pakistan initially appeared comfortable as Shawaal Zulfiqar and Muneeba Ali established an opening stand. Their progress ended when Shafali Verma bowled Muneeba for 13.
Charani then dismantled Pakistan’s top order by dismissing Gull Feroza and Shawaal in the powerplay. She later accounted for Ayesha Zafar, while Prema removed Sadaf Shamas and Umm-e-Hani.
Deepti Sharma added another breakthrough by trapping Pakistan captain Fatima Sana leg before wicket.
A run-out involving Eyman Fatima further damaged Pakistan before Deepti completed the innings by dismissing Tuba Hassan.
India’s chase started spectacularly when Shafali smashed the opening delivery for six.
The aggressive opener reached a major personal milestone, becoming the youngest woman to reach 3,000 T20I runs.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana briefly changed the momentum by dismissing Shafali, Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana. Her three-wicket burst left India at 29/3 in the fourth over.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma subsequently took control of the chase. The pair rotated the strike effectively before Deepti struck a boundary to ease the pressure.
Harmanpreet eventually sealed the contest with a six over long-on as India reached 57/3 in 8.4 overs.
Pakistan’s 55 all out was never enough to challenge India, who completed a comfortable seven-wicket victory and maintained their commanding record against their arch-rivals.
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