Women's Asia Cup 2024: India Women beat Pakistan by 7 wickets; what makes India women stand out from other teams?
India Women are currently having a great run across formats. They have started the Asia Cup with a bang, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by seven wickets with 35 balls to spare. It was a completely dominating show from India’s batters and bowlers. First, they bowled out Pakistan for 108, and then openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana posted a stand of 85 runs in 9.3 overs, killing the chase. This performance and India’s recent form in limited-overs cricket make them favourites to lift the Asia Cup.
What makes India Women stand head and shoulders above all their Asian rivals?
Well-rounded bowling unit
On the slow Sri Lankan pitches, India’s new-ball bowler, Pooja Vastrakar, did a brilliant job of finding early breakthroughs against Pakistan. She dismissed both of their openers cheaply. Off-break bowler Shreyanka Patil then came into action, dismissing Aliya Riaz. Another off-break bowler, Deepti Sharma, was also not far behind, weaving her magic to take three wickets. Medium-pacer Renuka Singh returned to scalp two wickets on successive balls in the middle overs. She conceded just 14 runs at an economy rate of 3.50. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav also bowled tidily. Overall, it was a complete bowling performance from India, ensuring Pakistan had no escape route and could not stitch a decent stand.
India’s five-bowler strategy has worked well so far, with all the bowlers coming to the party. Harmanpreet Kaur's off-break bowling was not needed at all during the match. The captain can bowl tidy spells to contain the opposition if needed. India have a well-rounded bowling unit with good quality in pace and spin to stand out against other competitors. Their spin attack is easily the most lethal in the world currently.
Depth in batting
India’s openers are the most destructive pair in women’s cricket currently. Shafali and Mandhana complemented each other brilliantly and matched each other stroke-for-stroke against Pakistan. Shafali made a 29-ball 40 with six fours and one six, while Mandhana cracked a 31-ball 45 with nine fours. They destroyed the Pakistan bowling attack and looked good enough to finish off the match with all 10 wickets in hand. The leg-break bowling of Syeda Aroob Shah gave Pakistan some hope. But it was not enough to deny India.
Nevertheless, the aggressive intent shown by the openers gave India a firing start, and this could help them further in the tournament. The other batters, such as Harmanpreet, Jemmiah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, and Deepti, didn’t have much to do. But the depth in India’s batting gives the openers the freedom to come out all guns blazing against the opposition. The cushion and experience in their batting order ensure that they finish off the job for the team, even if the openers fail at times. Overall, the batting line-up, which goes down to as low as No. 8 in Vastrakar, makes India a formidable batting unit.
Read More: What India Women need to set right in T20Is?
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