CWG 2022: Smriti Mandhana, Sneh Rana star as India crush Pakistan by 8 wickets to stay alive
India Today
Commonwealth Games 2022: Smriti Mandhana and Sneh Rana starred to help India crush Pakistan by 8 wickets to stay alive in the group stage of the CWG 2022
Sneh Rana’s fiery spell and Smriti Mandhana's superb fifty helped the Indian team beat Pakistan by 8 wickets to register the team's first win of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday. Smriti dished out a magnificent knock and played shots that oozed class and delight in equal measure to chase down the total with 38 balls remaining.
The eight-wicket win against Pakistan, after a three-wicket defeat to Australia in the opening match, means that India keeps their semi-final hopes alive and are on top of the table with their net run rate jumping from -0.56 to 1.17.
India vs Pakistan, Commonwealth Games 2022 Highlights
Smriti gave India an attacking start by slog-sweeping Anam Amin for six and followed it up by dancing down the pitch to loft over the bowler's head for four. Smriti's elegant Sunday extended by using her crease and feet very well to hit Diana Baig for three boundaries, with her bisecting backward point and short third man being the standout.
India continued to deal in boundaries as Shafali Verma smashed Anam for a brutal six-over long-on and ended the over with a loft over wide long-off for four. In between, Smriti snatched a four off Anam with a slice over backward point.Earlier, the Indian team bundled out Pakistan for 99 in the 18 overs of the rain-curtailed match of the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham on Sunday. For India, Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav bagged two wickets each. For Pakistan, Muneeba Ali (32) was the top scorer for them.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan’s women’s team got off to a bad start as they lost their opener, Iram Javed, who was dismissed by Meghna Singh after scoring zero runs. Captain Bismah Maroof then came out to bat and started smashing Indian bowlers all around the ground, but her stint was cut short by Sneh Rana, scoring just 17 runs in 19 runs.
