ICC Women's World Cup 2022 | INDW vs PAKW: Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana script India's fightback

India began the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 campaign against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. Batting first, the Indian team had a disappointing start to the proceedings after Shafali Verma was cleaned up for a six-ball zero by Diana Baig before opener Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma came in for the side’s rescue. 

The two batters stitched a stand of 92 runs for the second wicket with Mandhana notching up a fifty while Deepti scoring 40 in 57 balls. But Deepti’s dismissal at a team score of 96 was followed by a flurry of wickets, leaving India tottering at 114/6. 

Later, it was Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar who provided the resistance with a partnership of 122 runs for the seventh wicket. While Rana remained unbeaten at 53, Vastrakar scored 67 in just 59 balls, helping India put 244/7 in 50 overs. 

Nida Dar and Nashra Sandhu scalped two wickets each for Pakistan while Diana, Anam Amin and Fatima Sana had one dismissal apiece. 

“It wasn't a good start for me, I want to attack the batters and maintain my consistency, but I think I pulled it back, 2 for 45 was pretty good. I want to bowl according to situations, the target is chaseable, the wicket looks flat and the ball is coming nicely onto the bat. The partnership was good, we can learn from them, we have good batters on our side as well. My responsibility is to build partnerships with the other batters,” Dar said after the innings.