India secured a six-wicket win over Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup, but challenges in NRR and a cautious batting approach tempered the victory.
New Delhi: The scorecard may reflect India’s comfortable six-wicket win over Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup on Sunday, but the Women in Blue are aware they could have performed better. The game’s context adds weight to this sentiment—despite the win, India still trails behind Pakistan in the Group A points table due to a lower Net Run Rate (NRR).
After holding Pakistan to a modest 105/8 in the first innings, India took 18.8 overs to chase down the target. Although the pitch conditions and slightly longer boundaries favored the bowlers, India’s approach lacked innovation and the fearlessness to attack. Additionally, there was a noticeable over-reliance on the middle order to see them through.
With just two matches remaining against Sri Lanka and Australia, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side no longer controls their own path to the semi-finals. Their chances of securing a top-two finish depend on a few favorable outcomes from other matches, along with a simultaneous improvement in their Net Run Rate (NRR).
just like the performance, the records the team achieved were bitter sweet too. Let’s take a look at such three records:
1. First team to with two boundary-less powerplays in Women’s T20 World Cups
India openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana managed to score just 25 runs in the powerplay despite field restrictions. More importantly, they failed to smash a single boundary.
With this, India became the first team to have such powerplay twice in T20 World Cups, with their first one coming against the same team in the 2016 Women’s t20 World Cup. India could only score 96/7 in that innings, with skipper Mithali Raj scoring a slow (35) at the Top of the order.
2. Renuka Singh becomes the fastest Indian pacer to clinch 10 Women’s T20 World Cup wickets.
Renuka Singh drew the first blood as she dismissed Pakistan opener Gull Feroza on the last delivery of the first over. That wicket was Renuka’s 10 wicket in Women’s T20 World Cup. She reached the milestone in just seven outings and became the fastest Indian pacer to do so.
3. Most victories against Pakistan in T20 World Cups
India registered their sixth victory against Pakistan in eight matches in Women’s T20 World Cups. With it, they went past England (five wins in eight matches) to claim the top spot of the list for most wins against Pakistan in the history of the tournament.
This match also set an off-field milestone: a crowd of 15,935 people attended, marking the highest turnout ever for a group-stage game in a Women’s T20 World Cup.