INDvPAK: Arundhati Reddy helps India bounce back in T20 World Cup

India claimed their first victory in the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in a low-scoring Group A fixture on Sunday (October 6) in Dubai. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side looked a lot more improved from their previous game against the White Ferns. 

Opting to bat first, Fatima Sana made a single change to her playing 11, with Syeda Aroob Shah coming in for Diana Baig. As for Team India, Sajana Sajeevan replaced the injured Pooja Vastrakar, making her T20 World Cup debut. Renuka Singh Thakur gave India the start they desired as Gull Feroza was completely beaten by her delivery swinging in from outside off stump. 

Pakistan attempted to attack the Indian bowlers early in the power play but to no avail. Muneeba Ali hit a couple of boundaries but that was all she could do in the first six overs. Deepti Sharma removed Sidra Amin from the crease in her second over, and Pakistan ended the power play by scoring 29 runs.

Asha Sobhana dropped the chance to dismiss Muneeba, which was not the first catch she dropped on Sunday. But three deliveries later, Arundhati Reddy got the better of Omaima Sohail who gave the catching opportunity to Shafali Verma. Shreyanka Patil came into the attack for her second spell and Muneeba was not lucky this time as Richa Ghosh stumped her back to the pavilion.

Reddy got her second wicket, getting rid of Aliya Riaz. In the same over, Asha dropped her second catch of the day, denying the pacer the chance to dismiss the dangerous Fatima. A wasted opportunity was almost about to come back to haunt India, but Asha made sure to make amends. The Pakistani skipper, having just hit two consecutive boundaries, hit an outside edge, and Ghosh made a fantastic acrobatic effort to catch the ball. 

Patil, who was the most economical Indian bowler, claimed her second breakthrough by deceiving Tuba Hassan with extra bounce and trapping her for an easy catch. The experienced Nida Dar gave Pakistan some control in the innings despite no hitting many boundaries. She batted until the final over before becoming Reddy's third victim of the day. Pakistan registered 105 runs at the loss of eight wickets. 

Like Pakistan, Team India also started their innings slowly and stadily. The ball was failing to reach the boundary on most occasions, despite Shafali and Smriti Mandhana playing some decent shots right off the middle of the bat. Fatima used the spin to unsettle the openers and got the perfect result. Sadia Iqbal dismissed Mandhana for just seven runs, giving India an early blow. The chasing side scored 25 runs in the power play, five less than Pakistan.

Jemimah Rodrigues came in next, and provided the support India required at that point. Shafali, although slow, hit a couple of fours whenever the opportunity arose. Fortunately for India, the required run rate was below six, so the batters took their time to build the score instead of smashing bowlers for boundaries. This safe and patient approach worked in their favour, but Shafali tried going over the fence and gave Sohail a simple wicket and Riaz a simple catch at long-on. 

Skipper Harmanpreet used the same approach as Rodrigues - playing it safe. Fatima returned to the attack and made an instant impact, dismissing Rodrigues for 23 and Ghosh for a duck in consecutive deliveries. This put India into more pressure than they were looking for. But Harmanpreet remained calm throughout and played the game as planned. 

Looking in good form, an unfortunate incident happened when the Indian captain injured herself while making it back to the crease after playing a shot. She had to put her innings to a halt and walk back to the dugout. Sajana came in to bat at number seven, and hit the match-winning boundary while facing her first ball. Reddy was awarded the Player of the Match for her career-best bowling figures.

India emerged victorious, but still remain 4th in the Group A points table because of a negative net run rate (NRR). They will have to win the rest of the games with a solid margin in order to be able to advance to the semifinals.

Brief scores: Pakistan 105/8 in 20 overs (Nida Dar; Arundhati Reddy 3/19, Shreyanka Patil 2/12) lost to India 108/4 in 18.5 overs (Shafali Verma 32, Harmanpreet Kaur 29*; Fatima Sana 2/23). POTM: Arundhati Reddy