India women's win over Pakistan: What went well and what didn't

By Vipashana Thakur

New Delhi: The Indian Team began their journey in ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, with a win over Pakistan by 64 runs at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Sunday evening. A crowd of over 18,000, a record for a Women's T20 World Cup group stage match, gathered at the stadium to witness the two old rivals face each other, surpassing the previous record of 15,935 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in October 2024.

WHAT WENT WELL

Mandhana to India’s rescue

After opting to bat, India endured a rocky start before Smriti Mandhana controlled the situation, and lifted the team from 18/2, top scored in the match with 68 off 44 balls with nine fours and two sixes and reached her 50 off just 34 balls. Together with captain Harmanpreet, who pitched in with 36 runs in 35 balls, a strike rate of 102, they completed their century partnership in 12.4 overs. With this match, Harmanpreet surpassed Mithali Raj and became India's top run-scorer in Women's T20 World Cup history.

Richa Ghosh’s final touches

With just 20 balls left, it appeared that India would not cross 150, but Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma combined for a 45 run partnership, and took India to 170/6. Ghosh alone scored 34 off 17 balls, five fours and a six, with five of the six boundaries consecutively and gave India the momentum they needed in the final overs.

Deepti Sharma, the Player of the Match

In four overs, she gave away only 10 runs and took five wickets, her best figures in T20I cricket, bettering her previous best of 5/19 against South Africa in April 2026. She got Gull Feroza out off a reverse sweep that went straight to Bharti Fulmali at point, and had Ayesha Zafar caught by Mandhana at short fine leg. In the 17th over Deepti took three wickets in four balls, dismissing Aliya Riaz, Tasmia Rubab, and Nashra Sandhu and put an end to Pakistan's chase with three overs still left. After the match, she said there was turn on offer at Birmingham and that she kept varying her pace to keep the batters guessing.

India’s dominant bowling

Nine of Pakistan's 10 wickets fell to Indian bowlers, with Shree Charani also chipping in with 3/21 and Shafali Verma with 1/22. This team effort stopped Pakistan even before their overs ended.

THE SLIP-UPS

A rocky start for the Indian team

Early on, the team had slipped to 18 for 2, before Mandhana’s stabilisation. Had Pakistan leveraged those early wickets, the total might have been more humble.

Dropped catches that could have been damaging

Muneeba Ali was dropped twice in the first four overs, once by Deepti Sharma herself. She scored 41 off 35 balls, while the opening stand with Gull Feroza gave 38 before Feroza was caught out. 

Pakistan’s optimistic start did not hold. The chase had started strong, before the partnerships were broken. Captain Fatima Sana fell for a three ball duck, at 77 for 5 and the team did not rise after that.

Safe to say that this was a power play on India’s end. Pakistan's last win over India was at the Women's Asia Cup 2022, and this match continued India's unbeaten streak against them to four consecutive T20I games, for their 14th win in 17 T20I matches. Deepti Sharma was named Player of the Match for her figures of 5/10. With this win, India has made a commanding start to their World Cup 2026 journey and will face Netherlands on June 17, 2026.

Tags : women, cricket, India, T20 World Cup, ICC, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Pakistan