India started their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in style at Edgbaston on Sunday, defeating Pakistan by 64 runs thanks to Deepti Sharma’s career-best 5-10 spell.

Deepti, the off-spin bowling all-arounder, was the star as Pakistan fell apart from 75 for 3 to 106 all out in 17 overs, weaving a nasty spin web. In 20 overs, Richa Ghosh‘s late onslaught of 34 and Smriti Mandhana’s fluid 68 had previously pushed India to 170/6.

In addition to Deepti, left-arm spinner N Sree Charani also shined with 3-21 as India grabbed two points and a healthy net run rate to demonstrate their supremacy over Pakistan once more.

With intent, Pakistan started their chase by speeding to 52/1 in the powerplay, their greatest score in the six-over period versus India in T20 World Cups.

Muneeba Ali made India pay with four fluid boundaries after being dropped twice in the first four overs. Gull Feroza reverse-swept Deepti to backward point after scoring two boundaries against a poor Indian bowling attack.

Due to excellent spin bowling by Indian spinners in the middle overs, Pakistan was unable to take advantage of the powerplay after they had won it.

Before Sree Charani found Saira Jabeen’s leading edge and was caught at short cover, Deepti, who maintained pressure with her dot balls and slower bowling through the air, had Ayesha Zafar sweeping to short fine leg.

The turning point occurred when Muneeba was dismissed for 41 by Deepti’s direct hit from backward point, and Pakistan’s decline persisted. Natalia Pervaiz was caught by extra cover off Charani, while Fatima Sana fell for a three-ball duck to Shafali.

As Deepti and Charani dismissed them, Aliya Riaz and Rameen Shamim were unable to put up a fight. Deepti fittingly chose the other two wickets to finish a five-for and ensure India a crushing triumph.

Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of India, praised the accomplishments of Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh, saying, “They are always there to support the team whenever we need them. Today, I’m genuinely pleased with how they both performed. Cricket is a sport where you always win if you grab every ball and take every catch. And I believe that’s what occurred while fielding. I was very delighted with how we played and the game overall because we intended to offer ourselves to each ball.

It’s hard to choose one moment since everything I was able to accomplish in this game was special, but I’ll choose the five-wicket haul, stated India all-rounder and POTM Deepti Sharma. It’s quite unusual to get a fifer and win the game for your team in an ICC tournament. The conversation was about stepping up a bit during the first drinks break since we are aware of the skill and caliber of the athletes on our team. This was our inaugural match, and I relish ICC competitions, so I wanted to get off to a good start. It wasn’t like we entered the game against Pakistan with a different attitude. “Every game I play has the same attitude. ”

Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana admitted that her team lost by 64 runs to India and said, “We were attempting to be as positive as we could be. ” Without a doubt. We won the powerplay in both batting and bowling, but after that we collapsed with the bat. In order to achieve different results in the future, we must raise our batting average. Naturally, catches determine the outcome of games. Regrettably, we, especially as senior players, made some errors in our catches. “I believe we must improve our bowling and fielding in the next match since errors in the field might cost us the whole thing. ”

On Wednesday at Leeds’ Headingley, India will take on the Netherlands.

Brief Scores:
India 170/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 68, Harmanpreet Kaur 36; Fatima Sana 2-33, Sadia Iqbal 2-41)
Pakistan 106 all out in 17 overs (Muneeba Ali Siddiqui 41, Aliya Riaz 18; Deepti Sharma 5-10, N Sree Charani 3-21)