This was a familiar World Cup story: India met Pakistan and for all the talk of history, handshakes and millions of eyeballs, the contest was settled with little drama by the team in blue. Smriti Mandhana started with 68 off 44 balls before Deepti Sharma cleaned up in the second half, taking five for 10 as Harmanpreet Kaur’s side began their tournament with a 64-run victory in Birmingham.
Pakistan began well with both bat and ball; chasing 171, they ended the powerplay on 52 for one, Muneeba Ali finding some flow. But Deepti, player of the tournament at last year’s ODI World Cup, built up the dots with her off-breaks and the danger of an upset quickly subsided. Pakistan struggled to launch spin, routinely finding fielders in the covers as they fell to 79 for six inside 13 overs. Deepti delivered away from the crease, too, running out Muneeba with a direct hit for 41 as Pakistan fell to their fourth consecutive Twenty20 defeat by India.
This was a solid enough start for the 50-over world champions, here to make a proper go at the shorter version. India are supported by the Women’s Premier League, a domestic tournament that pays for the best players on the planet. Pakistan, on the other hand, have never advanced past the group stage at the T20 World Cup, and the noises from their board about starting a women’s franchise league a few years ago have gone quiet. This heated rivalry is also a major mismatch.
Naturally, there was the political edge to contend with, too; this was no utopia for anyone trying to escape the issues of the football World Cup. Harmanpreet, India’s captain, was asked in the buildup whether there would be handshakes between the two sides. It was a reference dating back to last year’s Asia Cup, when the men’s T20 team – led by Suryakumar Yadav – refused any pleasantries with their opponents after armed conflict between the two countries earlier in the year. Cue more of the same between Harmanpreet and her counterpart, Fatima Sana, at the 50-over World Cup eight months ago.
“We are here for cricket, and we only talk about cricket,” Harmanpreet said on Saturday, but the toss was always going to be closely observed: depressingly, there was no handshake with Sana after she chose to bat first and none between those out in the middle after the final wicket. This, Harmanpreet knows, is no ordinary game of cricket.
The fixture was a follow-up to the Netherlands’ first ever Women’s T20 World Cup match, a tight encounter with Bangladesh that was settled in the final over – a contest that deserved better than a 10.30am start.
The crowd then filed in for the headliners, with Edgbaston overwhelmingly more blue than green. The International Cricket Council celebrated an attendance figure of 18,814, outdoing the tournament opener between England and Sri Lanka at the same ground on Friday.
It was Pakistan who had the better of the first few overs. Shafali Verma launched a first-ball six but was gone just moments later, undone by the bounce from Sadia Iqbal. Jemimah Rodrigues made just one before departing with a hack off her seventh delivery, leaving India 18 for two.
Two giants of the Indian game, their leading run-scorers in this format, were up for the rebuild. Mandhana and Harmanpreet put together a stand of 91 inside 11 overs, the former dazzling when she went airborne over the offside. She should have gone on 27 when making room to launch the left-arm quick Tasmia Rubab, but Aliya Riaz, backpedalling from mid-off, failed to hold on. The same shot off the same bowler flew for six minutes later.
Mandhana twirled away to a half-century off 34 balls and another drop at deep midwicket followed, with Pakistan threatening to implode as the crowd got louder, India flags working overtime. “I didn’t feel like we were playing in the UK to be very honest,” said Deepti, who claimed the best figures of her T20i career. “The fans are cheering for us and it feels like home conditions.”
There was a passage of respite for Pakistan after Sana swept in for a fine catch at long-on to end Mandhana’s knock, and Harmanpreet fell to Pakistan’s 24-year-old captain for 36. But Richa Ghosh gave India a thumping finish with her 17-ball 34, taking 18 off Rubab’s last four deliveries. No one came close to a similar show of power for Pakistan.