Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma bailed India out with bat and ball respectively to fire them to an emphatic opening win over Pakistan in front of a sellout crowd in Birmingham on Sunday.

Mandhana top-scored with 68 to lift India from 18 for 2 to 170, their highest in a T20 World Cup against Pakistan. Then, Deepti struck twice in two overs after Pakistan’s openers rattled 38 in quick time.

Deepti’s blockbuster act, though, was a direct hit from short third to run out the dangerous Muneeba Ali for 41, triggering a collapse Pakistan didn’t quite recover from. They lost 5 for 26 through the middle phase as India’s spinners tightened their grip. They were eventually bowled out for 106, with Deepti finishing with 5 for 10 to become the highest wicket-taker in women’s T20Is.

In a match where both teams missed a number of opportunities on the field, the eventual difference was India’s death-overs lift. Richa Ghosh, who allayed fears of a form slump during the warm-ups last week, smashed 34 off 17. This included a sequence of four fours and a six off her last eight legal deliveries to help India muscle 60 off the last six overs when it seemed like they’d finish around 150.

That not only helped India finish on a high, but also gave them a massive net run rate cushion in what is being dubbed the group of death.

India looked to go hard early. Shafali Verma launched her first ball for six, but was caught behind four balls later off left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal in trying to manufacture a boundary opportunity. Jemimah Rodrigues then played an uncharacteristic swipe to be taken at cover in the fourth over, giving left-arm seamer Tasmia Rubab a wicket off her second ball on World Cup debut. At 18 for 2, India needed to stem early damage.

Mandhana offset some of that early pressure by hitting two boundaries off spinner Rameem Shamim in the fifth over. Mandhana was on 27 when Aliya Riyaz dropped her running back from mid-off to deny Rubab a second wicket. At that stage, India were struggling for momentum at 44 for 2 in the 8th over.

Fatima Sana rustled through the middle overs with spin as Harmanpreet Kaur also took her time to settle in, scoring 5 off 10 at one stage. But the introduction of left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu forced a slight change in approach as Harmanpreet hit her for two boundaries in her first over, and India scored 24 between overs 7-10.

Mandhana was particularly superb in stepping out and hitting inside-out over cover, one such boundary helped her raise a 34-ball half-century. Soon after, Saira Jabeen reprieved her for a second time at deep midwicket off Iqbal. You got the sense the floodgates had truly opened.

Mandhana holed out to long-on for 68 to give Pakistan a reprieve. That turned into double-delight three balls later when Bharti Fulmali was stumped, giving Iqbal the charge. When Harmanpreet flicked Fatima Sana to deep square, India had lost 3 for 14. India then went through a 21-ball period without a boundary before the runs came in a torrent in the last two overs.

Rubab, who came into her final overs with figures of 3-0-17-1, was then taken to the cleaners with Ghosh hitting her for a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4 in a 23-run over. After displaying her brute force in the leg-side arc between mid-on and deep midwicket in the penultimate over, Ghosh’s deft touches helped pocket 15 off the final over to help India sign off with momentum on their side.

Muneeba should’ve been out in the second over when she jabbed at a sharp-turner from offie Shreyanka Patil, only for Ghosh to fluff an opportunity. Then in the fourth over, Shreyanka deceived her in flight to slice a drive to point where Arundhati Reddy put down a straightforward chance. In between that, Muneeba threw Kranti Gaud off her lengths by walking across to scoop. She was also quick to pick length and cut well as Pakistan raced to 37 for 0 in four overs.

Across the next six overs, Pakistan lost the cream of their middle order as India’s spinners tightened their grip, picking up 4 for 21. Deepti aside, Shree Charani, on T20 World Cup debut, gave an excellent account of herself, picking up 3 for 21 in the middle overs. Deepti then picked up three wickets in her fourth over to wrap up the game in the 17th, giving India a massive win and walking away with the Player of the Match award.

SCORES:
India Women  170 for 6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 68, Harmanpreet Kaur 36, Richa Ghosh 34, Deepti Sharma 12*; Sadia Iqbal 2-41, Fatima Sana 2-33, Tasmia Rubab 1-41, Rameem Shamim 1-30) beat Pakistan Women  106 in 17 overs  (Muneeba Ali 41, Gull Feroza 12, Ayesha Zafar 12, Aliya Riyaz 18; Deepti Sharma 5-10, Shree Charani 3-21, Shafali Verma 1-22) by 64 runs

[Cricinfo]