India brushed Pakistan aside in an emphatic seven-wicket win when the two sides met during the Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai on Saturday, marking India’s seventh Asia Cup triumph against Pakistan in eight matches.
asserted
sides → brush → matches
Captain Fatima Sana won the toss and chose to bat first, trying to replicate the successful template of Pakistan’s win against Thailand on Tuesday.
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Sana → win → Tuesday
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who became the first player, man or woman to hit the 150-match mark in T20 internationals, said that this was a “good opportunity” for India to bowl first.
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India → become → internationals
Both India and Pakistan went with teams unchanged from their previous matches.
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India → go → matches
Pakistan got off to a chancy yet steady start as opening pair Muneeba Ali and Shawaal Zulfiqaar scored 16 runs in the first three overs.
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Ali → get → overs
Pakistan were given a reprieve as Muneeba was dropped off the bowling of Kranti Gaud at the beginning of the third over.
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Muneeba → give → over
The pair notched a few boundaries and rotated strike to stitch an opening partnership of 27 runs, when Muneeba, who erroneously gave too much room, was bowled by Shafali Verma for 13 off 15 balls.
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who → notch → balls
A spectacular unravelling
The bowling change made by captain Kaur to bring Shree Charani on after the initial breakthrough immediately paid dividends as she sent Gul Feroza and Shawaal Zulfiqar back to the dressing room inside the first over of her spell.
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she → make → spell
Gul Feroza came down the track to attempt to hit a turning delivery, but missed the pitch of the ball entirely to send a leading edge to Nadani Sharma at short-third.
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Feroza → come → third
Shawaal Zulfiqaar fell lbw whilst attempting a sweep at the last ball of the same over.
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Zulfiqaar → fall → over
Charani picked up her third wicket as Ayesha Zafar awkwardly miscued a flighted delivery straight into captain Kaur’s hands, reducing Pakistan to 32-4, which became 33-5 as Prema Rawat bowled Sadaf Shamas to conclude the 9th over.
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Rawat → pick → over
Pakistan’s chances to put up a fighting total extinguished all but entirely as captain Fatima Sana, who has often rescued Pakistan from similarly sticky situations in the past, fell lbw for a seven-ball duck to Deepti Sharma.
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who → put → Sharma
Eyman Fatima and Umm-e-Hani scraped together a ten-run partnership, before a miscommunication at the pitch led to Umm-e-Hani setting off for an unagreed-upon single, causing Eyman to be run out in a scramble to return to the crease, leaving Pakistan reeling at 45-7.
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Eyman → scrap → 7
The last three wickets amounted for only ten more runs as Umm-e-Hani and Nashra Sandhu fell attempting to chase outside-off deliveries by Rawat, both being caught, for six and zero respectively.
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both → amount → six
Tuba Hassan was the last wicket to fall, with wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh completing a scratchy stumping after Tuba tried playing a Deepti Sharma delivery across the line.
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Tuba → fall → line
Pakistan were bowled out for 55, their lowest ever score in a T20 international match in their 200th outing in the format.
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Pakistan → bowl → format
Rawat and Charani picked up three poles in each of their extremely economical four-over spells, while Verma and Sharma picked up one and two wickets respectively.
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Verma → pick → wickets
Blockbuster start
India began what was already considered an easy chase at the onset with thumping conviction, as Shafali Verma hit Sadia Iqbal for a disdainful six off the first ball of the innings.
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Verma → begin → innings
Verma then hit Fatima for a four off the second ball of her spell, before chipping a leading edge off the very next delivery back into Fatima’s hands for an anti-climactic dismissal.
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Verma → hit → dismissal
Pratika Rawal, in at number three, slashed at a fuller, wider delivery off the Pakistan captain’s bowling.
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Rawal → slash → bowling
To add to Pakistan’s misery, this reached the fence as it was sloppily handled by Sadia Iqbal at the outfield.
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it → add → outfield
Fatima followed a boundary with a wicket for the second time in the same over as she dismissed Rawal caught-behind on the very next delivery to conclude the eventful second over.
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she → follow → over
The skipper struck again to remove India stalwart Smriti Mandhana in her next over for her third wicket, displaying the only symptoms of a fight Pakistan had managed to put up all match.
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Pakistan → strike → fight
With the experienced pair of Deepti Sharma and captain Kaur at the crease, India had no reason to hurry – and they played as such, with even the next couple of relatively quiet overs allowing India to close towards the target.
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India → have → target
Nashra Sandhu and Umm-e-Hani were introduced into the bowling attack, but Pakistan’s abysmal show with the bat had left them with little resistance to potentially offer.
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show → introduce → resistance
Kaur hit Nashra for a four — a chance for Fatima to catch gone begging — and a six to sweetly finish off her milestone appearance for the national team.
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Fatima → hit → team
While Fatima’s haul of three wickets probed at a far-fetched possibility, Pakistan’s complete no-show with the bat had rendered the Green Shirts unable to rally for anything close to a win.
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Shirts → probe → win
Charani was named player of the match; her introduction gave the match its complexion and her pristine figures of three wickets for seven runs further set it in stone.
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figures → name → stone
“Important to keep the standards high,” said the Indian captain after the match, adding that all the bowlers played to their strengths and that with Pakistan also bowling a few good deliveries, it was important to see the game through.
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it → keep → game
The Pakistan captain downplayed her three-wicket haul, saying that it “doesn’t matter” as the team lost, and that the side will try to play better cricket in their next fixture.
And that they will need to; with India already having qualified for the semi-finals, ensuring that this routing saw them finish top of the group, Pakistan will have to win their next match against Hong Kong to find a spot in the final four.
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Pakistan → downplay → four
The Aporia
