Smriti Mandhana emulates Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma with ruthless 63 against Pakistan; IND W star reaches huge milestone
Smriti Mandhana, with her seemingly effortless batting, accomplished a huge batting feat during the 20-over game against Pakistan in Commonwealth Games 2022.
India on Sunday rode Smriti Mandhana's splendid half-century to outwit Pakistan in a rain-curtailed women's Group A match of the 22nd Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. After bowling out the opposition for a meagre 99, India overhauled the target in just 11.4 overs, thanks to Mandhana's ruthless 63 not out off 42 balls. The left-handed batter put on a brilliant show comprising eight fours and three sixes, including a step-out shot off spinner Tuba Hassan for her half-century. Commonwealth Games 2022 Live Day 3
It was the second time this year that an Indo-Pak contest failed to produce a close game. India had won comfortably versus arch-rivals Pakistan in the 50-over World Cup in New Zealand.
But Mandhana, with her seemingly effortless batting, accomplished a huge batting feat in the 20-over format.
Mandhana is now the third Indian player after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to have 1000-plus T20I runs while chasing. While Mandhana is in the third spot with 1059 runs, Kohli and Rohit have gathered 1789 and 1375 runs, respectively.
At Edgbaston, Pakistan bowlers had no answers for the Mandhana-Shafali pair, which only dealt in boundaries. The openers brought up their 50-run stand in just 29 balls.
Hassan gave Pakistan the breakthrough they wanted, dismissing Verma for 16 off 9 balls after she was caught by Muneeba Ali in her attempt to cut the ball. The duo of Sabbhineni Meghana and Mandhana then kept going before the former was dismissed for 14 off six balls by Omaima Sohail.
Jemimah Rodrigues was next up on the crease. India won the match, finishing with 102/2 in 11.4 overs with Mandhana (63 not out) and Rodrigues (unbeaten 2) in the middle.
Earlier, Sneh Rana's fiery spell and tight bowling performance bowled out Pakistan for just 99 in 18 overs of the rain-hit game. Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav bagged two wickets each, while Muneeba Ali (32) was the top scorer for Pakistan.
