T20 WC: India women beat Pakistan in a thrilling match by 7 wickets

Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh were the stars of the show as India kicked off their Women's T20 World Cup campaign with a seven-wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday. This is the second highest chase in the history of Women's World T20 and also India's most successful chase in the tournament.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first and the decision proved to be correct despite Javeria Khan losing early. Maroof and Muneba Ali put their foot on the pedal as they top scored in the power play and looked to be in control. But Radha Yadav gave India the much needed breakthrough at that moment. Pakistan ended up losing another quickly as Pooja Vastrakar quickly dismissed Nida Dar.

Yadav picked up her second in the form of Sidra Ameen as Pakistan cruised to 68 for four in 12.1 overs. Maroof then found an ideal partner in Ayesha Naseem and the duo put on 81 runs for the 5th wicket in just 7.1 overs to help Pakistan post a score of 149 runs in their 20 overs for the loss of four wickets.

India started their run-chase well with Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia putting on 38 runs for the first wicket in 5.3 overs before Bhatia departed. Shafali was then joined by Jemimah in the middle and the duo put on 30 runs before Sandhu removed the opener. India seemed to be in dire straits when they lost skipper Harmanpreet after 16 runs with just 93 on the board for the loss of three wickets.

Jemimah and Ghosh then decided to put the pressure on the Pakistan bowlers who hit them to all parts of the ground with some wonderful knocks. The duo ensured that India got home with a margin to get the campaign off to a good start. Jemimah scored 53 runs in 38 deliveries while Ghosh remained unbeaten on 31 off 20 deliveries.