Women’s T20 World Cup: Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh lead India to 7-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in campaign opener | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Jemimah Rodriguez AND Richa GoshThe staggering 58-run partnership for the fourth wicket coupled with sloppy fielding by the Pakistani women helped India to a seven-wicket victory over their arch-rivals in their opener of the Group B campaign of the Women’s T20 World Cup Sunday in Cape Town.
The glittering partnership between duo Jemimah and Richa helped India pull off the second most successful run-chase in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup.

Rodrigues hit an incredible unbeaten 53, while Richa hit an unbeaten 20-ball 31 in India’s 150 chase which was completed with an over to spare.
It happened
Ghosh bowled three consecutive boundaries in a productive 18th over, sent down by Aiman ​​Anwer, to change the complexion of the game, just when it looked like India were closing in.
Ghosh and Rodrigues became the main architects of India’s victory after their chase was derailed following quick starts by Shafali Verma and the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.

Shafali (33 off 25 balls) and Yastika Bhatia (17) got India’s run chase off to a good start, sewing up 38 runs in 5.3 overs. The powerplay overs yielded 43 runs for a wicket.
Shafali, who overhauled a successful LBW decision in the fourth over, was going strong as he attacked the opposition bowlers. But the dismissal of him in the tenth with Sidra Ameen taking a good catch near the boundary of the Nashra Sandhu bowling put India in trouble.
Jemimah, one down, survived a staggering call as India hit 67 for 2 at the half with experienced captain Harmanpreet making his way to the box.
Harmanpreet scored a bound from the third delivery he faced and repeated it in the same 11th to add to the Indian total. But he was guilty of trying to cross the line and against Fatima Sana’s bowling turn off.
The superior lead was easily taken by Bismah Maroof as India were reduced to 93 for 3 from 13.3 overs.
India needed 83 runs from the last 10 overs and despite crucial wickets being dropped, good start and depth of batting kept India in the hunt. But the run rate continued to rise for India as they needed 47 from their last five overs.
With Jemimah and new batsman Richa often getting bounds, the equation became 28 runs from three overs.
Richa turned the game around when he hit three consecutive boundaries off the first three balls of Aiman ​​Anwer’s 18th bowled. Ghosh was smart enough to send two rather wide deliveries to the fence.
Needing 14 from the last two overs, Jemimah hit three fours in the penultimate over to end the match in the blink of an eye.
Earlier, Pakistan recorded 149 for 4 after single to bat, their highest total in the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan were reduced to 43 for 3 in the eighth over but recovered brilliantly, scoring 91 runs in the second half of their innings with captain Bismah Maroof (68 not out) and Ayesha Naseem (43 not out) scoring 81 runs for the untaken fifth wicket.
Maroof hit seven fours during his unbeaten 55-ball hit, while Naseem hit two fours and two 25-ball sixes during his unbeaten innings.
Pakistan scored 91 runs from the second half of their innings and 58 from the last five overs as Maroof and Naseem frustrated the Indian bowlers over eight overs to take their team to a challenging total.
For India, left arm spinner Radha Yadav was the most successful bowler with figures of 2/21 while Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar each got a wicket.
India didn’t take long to get the breakthrough, with fit Deepti Sharma dismissing Pakistani opener Javeria Khan (8) in the second over with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur taking an easy catch at leg short after the batter had hit a boundary on the previous ball.
Pakistan showed attacking intent even after the initial jolt as the captain and Bismah Maroof scored back-to-back boundaries in the fourth over. Pakistan were 39 to one at the end of the powerplay overs.
A change in the bowling brought success to the Indians when left-arm spinner Radha Yadav removed the other opener Muneeba Ali (12) in the seventh over. A clever review by the Indians in the next over resulted in another wicket as Nida Dar was ruled out as there was a light touch of the ball on her gloves by Pooja Vastrakar.
The two quick wickets put Pakistan in trouble from a promising position as they were reduced to 58 for 3 at the halfway point.
The experienced Maroof was going strong and held one end together but wickets fell around her, including that of Sidra Ameen (11) who became Yadav’s second victim in the 13th over.
With the arrival of Ayesha Naseem in the 13th over, Pakistan stepped on the gas making it look easy to score with a six and four off Renuka Singh in the 16th over.
(With inputs from PTI)