India vs Pakistan Women's Cricket Match Highlights

4

Overs4.2

Score24 - 2

Rameen Shamim to Smriti Mandhana, FOUR! Races away! Pushed through, full and on the leg stump, drifting in. Smriti Mandhana sits across and sweeps it to the right of the short fine leg fielder. The ball teases her all the way to the ropes and she dives to haul the ball back in but that needed a tidy effort.

W

Overs3.2

Score18 - 2

Tasmia Rubab to Jemimah Rodrigues, OUT! IN THE AIR AND GONE! Taken on the second attempt by Natalia Pervaiz. India find themselves in a bit of early trouble. Angled across the off stump and keeps it on the fuller side. Rodrigues collapses her back knee and gets low. She swings across the line of the ball and ends up slicing it high in the air towards cover. Natalia Pervaiz moves forward and settles under it. The ball pops out of her grasp initially but she keeps her calm. She gets low and stretches her right hand out to grab the ball.

4

Overs2.4

Score18 - 1

Sadia Iqbal to Smriti Mandhana, FOUR! Sublime from Smriti. Tossed up by Iqbal, a bit too full, on off. Mandhana does not try to overhit this one. She presses forward and caresses it all along the ground to the right of mid off for four more.

4

Overs2.2

Score14 - 1

Sadia Iqbal to Smriti Mandhana, FOUR! Aliya Riaz's effort goes in vain. Fired in by Sadia, very full, on off. Smriti swipes at it and gets it away towards wide long on. Aliya sprints and dives to her left but cannot push it back in and ends up parrying the ball onto the fence.

1

Overs1.5

Score9 - 1

Fatima Sana to Jemimah Rodrigues, Had to hurry! Moving back in, on a nagging length, on middle. Rodrigues taps it to mid on and sets off for the run. Smriti had to run around Sana, but the throw from Aliya Riaz goes to the bowling end and she misses. Jemimah dived and she was safe even if the throw had hit the stumps.

0

Overs1.3

Score8 - 1

Fatima Sana to Jemimah Rodrigues, Nearly chopped it back onto the stumps. Muneeba Ali comes up to the stumps to keep Jemi in her crease. This is fractionally short, outside off. Rodrigues makes room to force it through the off side. Chops it down off a bottom edge and it goes on the bounce to the keeper.

W

Overs0.5

Score6 - 1

Sadia Iqbal to Shafali Verma, OUT! CAUGHT BEHIND! Sadia Iqbal strikes back. A sharp grab by Muneeba Ali. Iqbal bowls it flat and short, following the batter as she backs away. Verma makes room and swings at it, but the ball kicks up and gets big on her. It grazes the top edge of the blade. The keeper, Muneeba, moves in line with the ball to her left, gets her hands high and takes a fine catch.

Time for the national anthems - A huge cheer goes up from the crowd at Edgbaston as the giant flags are unveiled in the middle. The match officials make their way out. Out walk Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana, who lead their respective groups to get lined up for the anthems. It will be the national anthem of Pakistan first, followed by India's.

PITCH REPORT - Jatin Sapru notes that the same surface will be used for the entire tournament, and it has a good covering of dry grass. He adds that it will offer consistent bounce and carry, with the spinners coming into play as the game wears on. Veda Krishnamurthy notes there is dry grass on top, but it is rock hard underneath, so she reckons that the ball will come on nicely onto the bat. She points out that both sides have plenty of spin to call upon and feels the slower bowlers will be the ones to bring success here.

The captain of Pakistan Women - Fatima Sana says that they would have batted first as well as it looks like a good batting wicket. On improvements, she says the team is doing well in both batting and bowling, but stresses that with a good bowling unit in place, they need to improve a little on their batting. On her fitness, she says the knee is good. And about the conditions, she feels it looks like a batting track, but with a good unit on both sides, it should be a good contest. When asked about the team combination, she reveals Saira Jabeen is in and will be playing her first World Cup match.

The Indian captain - Harmanpreet Kaur says they are going to bat first as it is a very good pitch to bat on and they'll be looking to put a good amount of runs on the board. On whether winning the ODI World Cup boosts their confidence, she says the whole team is excited and that the triumph has given them a lot of confidence, which they will look to carry forward. On their preparation, she says they have improved in several areas and stresses that they just need to get things right during the tournament. On team combination, she reveals Bharti Fulmali comes in for the game, noting that Yastika has been in good form but they decided to go with the former for this game. She also adds that they are going with three spinners and two medium pacers.