Women's World Cup: India crush Pakistan for fourth Sunday in a row

India crush Pakistan for fourth Sunday in a row (BCCI Photo)

Pakistan's demolition by India continued for fourth Sunday in a row as this time the women's team led by Harmanpreet Kaur beat the arch-rivals by 88 runs in the ongoing ICC Women's World Cup. In yet another politically charged battle, Harmanpreet followed Suryakumar Yadav and refrained from engaging in any pre or post-match customary rituals. While a few moments of tension were witnessed between players at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo  but the majority of the contest remained peaceful as India claimed another big win over the neighbours.

The action began with Pakistan winning the toss and opting to field. Despite match referee Shandre Fritz's making a major gaffe while conducting the toss and allowing Pakistan the early edge, they failed to restrain India from imposing a challenging first-innings total. In the end it proved more than enough as the Indian women team extended their head-to-head record to 12-0.

Batting first India piled 247/10 in 50 overs and Pakistan in response could only manage 159/10 in 43 overs. This was India's second win in as many matches at the marquee event, while Pakistan succumbed to their second defeat in a row, having previously lost to Bangladesh in their first match at the World Cup.

Gaps to fill for India

Despite the convincing result, India still have a few gaps to fill keeping the title aspirations in mind.

Smriti Mandhana, who enjoyed stellar form coming into the World Cup, suddenly appears out of sorts, which may lead to major concern when facing tougher opponents such as New Zealand, England, and Australia. The flamboyant opener struck 23(32), failing to capitalise on the start she got alongside Pratika Rawal, who scored 31(37). Mandhana was dismissed for 8(10) in the previous match against Sri Lanka in Guwahati, which India won by 59 runs as per the DLS method.

The middle-order also struggled to get going and at one stage the team had lost half the side with just 159 on the board. Although wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh did flaunt her muscles walking in at no. 8, smashing three boundaries and a couple of maximums, the target still was very moderate.

While she did her job with the bat, but made mistakes aplenty while keeping and dropped three chances that should have been taken.

Another area where India made errors were the DRS calls, wasting both reviews while defending the target.

22-year-old Kranti Kranti Goud's match-winning effort

If there were errors, there were also inspiration, one of which was 22-year-old Kranti Goud. The right-arm medium pacer bowled three maidens and conceded just 20 runs in ten overs. She struck thrice with the most important breakthrough coming in her returning spell in the 28th over when Pakistan appeared to have steadied their ship. She dismissed Natalia Pervaiz, bringing an end to a frustrating 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket in the first ball of the spell.

"Feeling really good that I'm the Player of the Match in a World Cup match. People in my village would be proud. They've put on a big LED screen to watch the match," Goud said after being named Player of The Match.