Printed On 14 Jun 2026
Deepti Sharma took 5 wickets, and India bowled out Pakistan for 106 to efficiently start their newest quest for a primary Ladies’s Twenty20 World Cup title with a 64-run win over their archrivals.
Sharma spun out the final three wickets in 5 balls as India defended 170 on Sunday in entrance of a closely partisan sellout crowd on the Edgbaston Cricket Floor in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
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Seven months after Sharma starred in India’s victory within the remaining of the Ladies’s ODI World Cup with 5 wickets and 58 runs, she began this T20 World Cup with one other standout efficiency. Shree Charani supported her with 3-21.
Sharma took the primary two wickets of Pakistan’s chase, which really began robust, however by the tenth over, India have been on prime.
Pakistan wanted Muneeba Ali, dropped twice, to go massive, however Sharma ran her out on 41 within the eleventh over with a terrific direct hit on the run from backward level.
When Pakistan captain Fatima Sana fell within the subsequent over at 77-5, her staff fell away too.
Sharma’s late burst for 5-10 made her the best wicket-taker within the ladies’s T20, with 166.
“I all the time imagine in myself, that every time the appropriate time comes, I’ll step up,” the prolific all-rounder mentioned.
India laboured by their energy play, and it took Smriti Mandhana to be dropped on 27 off 24 balls to be impressed by the reprieve to lash out on the Pakistani bowling. She wanted solely one other 10 balls to succeed in 50.
The left-handed opener was dropped once more on 55 and top-edged onto her personal helmet, forcing a concussion test. She handed, smacked her ninth boundary, and was out to a terrific low seize by Sana.
Mandhana’s wicket began a mini-collapse, together with captain Harmanpreet Kaur on 36. India began the nineteenth over at 132-5, hoping for 150.
That’s when Richa Ghosh exploded with 34 off 17 balls and mixed with Sharma to take 23 runs off World Cup debutant Tasmia Rubab.
“Whether it is in my fingers, I’d like to ship [Ghosh] on the primary ball,” Kaur mentioned. “However she has a task to play, and he or she is doing effectively.”
Sana conceded 15 within the final over, and a 171 goal appeared steep, given Pakistan’s historical past in opposition to their neighbours.
India have dominated the World Cup rivalry with Pakistan, having crushed them in all conferences throughout the 20- and 50-over codecs.
Persevering with the development set by their males’s staff in final yr’s Asia Cup, the Indian staff didn’t shake fingers with their Pakistani counterparts for a second World Cup in a row, following their assembly within the 50-over event in October.
Ferdous flays the Netherlands
In the meantime, Bangladesh pulled off a document chase on the identical pitch to win in opposition to the Netherlands within the European aspect’s first Ladies’s T20 World Cup match.
Bangladesh reached 141-4 with 5 balls remaining after having by no means scored greater than 126 in a profitable World Cup chase.
Replying to the Netherlands’ 139-8, the South Asian staff have been taken to the final over even after a terrific platform set by opening batter Juairiya Ferdous, who hit her second 50 since her T20 debut in January.
Ferdous had 26 of the primary 27 runs, and 33 of the 47 within the energy play. However the 20-year-old additionally had two lives. On 7, the third umpire disputably dominated out a catch at deep midwicket by Sterre Kalis, and on 18, Ferdous was dropped.
Each of her sixes flew over the midwicket rope, and by the point she was out for 50 off 33 balls at 67-1 within the eighth over, Bangladesh have been nearly midway residence.
Dutch spinners Silver and Heather Siegers and Caroline de Lange (2-27) slowed down Bangladesh, however they weren’t persevered with.
An unbeaten partnership of 56 between Sharmin Akhter and Shorna Akter clinched Bangladesh’s fourth win in seven T20 World Cups.
Netherlands captain Babette de Leede gained the toss, and the one-down batter held her staff along with 50 from 45 balls till the seventeenth over, when she was run out making an attempt for a second run.
Bangladesh’s assault was led by medium-pacers Marufa Akter, 2-31, and Ritu Moni, 1-17 .
On Tuesday, defending champions New Zealand tackle Sri Lanka, and hosts England face Eire.
