PROVIDENCE: Mithali Raj smashed an aggressive half-century to guide India to an easy 7-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the ICC Women’s World T20 on November 11.
Raj anchored the Indian run chase with a 47-ball 56 which she made with the help of seven fours in the Group B match which was marred by unprecedented docking of 10 penalty runs on Pakistan.
Even before a ball being faced, 10 runs were on India’s scoreboard after Pakistan were docked five-run penalty twice during their innings on account of their batswomen running on the danger area of the pitch during their innings.
India chased down the target of 134 with six balls to spare, reaching 137 for 3 in 19 overs. Previous game centurion and captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy remained not out on 14 and 8 respectively.
Bismah Maroof (53) and Nida Dar (52) helped the Green Shirts recover after early blows. They were the only two batsmen who stood out. In the bowling department, Diana Baig, Nida Dar and Bismah Maroof picked up one wicket each.
With the win on Sunday, India (with four points) made a big step towards making it to the semifinals from the five-team Group B. Two teams each from the two groups qualify for the semifinals.
