Deepti’s five-for caps Mandhana’s 68 as India rout Pakistan by 64 runs

India could not have asked for a cleaner start to their Women’s T20 World Cup. A clinical 64-run win over Pakistan at Edgbaston on June 14 was built on Smriti Mandhana’s poised 68 and finished off by Deepti Sharma, whose 5 for 10 turned a strong total into a procession. India posted 170 for 6, then bowled Pakistan out for 106 inside 17 overs in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,814.

The result keeps the lopsided pattern of this fixture intact. It was India’s seventh win over Pakistan in Women’s T20 World Cup meetings, a contest they have lost only twice, and they did it with the kind of all-round control that will worry the rest of Group 1.

Mandhana holds firm, Richa lands the blows

The innings did not begin smoothly. India slipped to 18 for 2 inside the powerplay, and on a charged afternoon against the old rival, the early wickets brought a familiar tension to the Indian dressing room. Mandhana refused to let it spread. The vice-captain absorbed the pressure, picked her moments against the spinners, and gradually shifted the contest back in India’s favour with a 44-ball 68 that anchored everything around it.

When Mandhana finally holed out in the deep, the platform was set for the lower order to attack. Richa Ghosh did exactly that, carving 34 from 17 balls with five fours and a six before being bowled by Fatima Sana on the penultimate ball. India plundered 60 from the last six overs, and a score that had looked uncertain at 18 for 2 ended up their highest against Pakistan at a T20 World Cup, and well beyond the chasing side’s reach.

Deepti runs through the chase

If the batting set the game up, Deepti Sharma settled it. The off-spinner choked the run rate through the middle, then came back to tear through the lower order and finish with 5 for 10. It beat her previous best of 5 for 19 and made her the first India bowler to take more than one five-wicket haul in women’s T20Is.

Pakistan never built a partnership long enough to threaten the target. Wickets kept tumbling at the other end while Deepti tightened the screws, and the chase folded for 106 with three overs still unused. Named player of the match, Deepti had earlier added an unbeaten 12 with the bat, a small contribution next to the ball but a sign of how completely she shaped the contest.

India move on with a statement win and an early boost to their net run rate, a currency that often decides who survives a tight World Cup group. Pakistan, beaten comprehensively again, must regroup quickly with the tournament moving fast.

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