Making a fantastic start to their 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup campaign, India overcame Pakistan by 64 runs at Edgbaston, However, Virat Kohli supported the bowlers with his half-century and later on, Deepti Sharma scalped a record 5-0. The lower-order came to life in time with brave minds between Veda Krishnamurthy (1), Richa Ghosh (0) not allowing the side down before getting back up together with (52) helped India break any resistance thas Australia had at this contest place as one of their more detailed encounters of the tournament.
When India batted first after Cho played the deferential role and sent them to a batting-friendly surface things turned shaky after all. Shafali Verma, however, wasted no time as she hit the very first ball of the match for six but her aggression did not last long as she was out in the opening over. When the pressure was on, Jemimah Rodrigues could not anchor her innings and fell for just one run after having been dismissed by debutant Tasmia Rubab to take her first wicket in T20 Internationals.
The innings having reached a critical point, the vice-captain Smriti Mandhana had only to stop it getting worse. After being tentative early, she figured her timing and rhythm while getting on track to take the scoring into her own hands. Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur stitched a vital 91-run partnership to steady India after the early blows.
Harmanpreet played second fiddle to Mandhana, who took charge of keeping the runs flowing as Harmanpreet steadied the innings and kept having an odd single here and there. The left-hander capitalized one a couple of opportunities given by Pakistan and battered the opposition with hundred of classy strokes. Eventually she raised her fifth T20 World Cup half-century, off 34 balls to set up a good platform for a competitive total.
This senior duo created a platform for Richa Ghosh to express herself with the bat, and she used her natural attacking flair towards the end of innings. The wicketkeeper-batter went on an attacking late blitz, hammering 34 runs from just 17 balls. With an aggressive finishing display, she helped India post a formidable total of 170 for 6 to give their bowlers something to defend.
Pakistan the chase started positively and intent during the opening overs. But India’s bowlers slowly began to exert their control on the contest. Deepti Sharma had one of her best T20I spells, taking 5 wickets after a long wait to deliver an impactful bowling performance.
Her brilliant spell reduced Pakistan’s middle and lower order, so the chase never gained any real momentum. India, with bat and ball firing in unison, delivered a thumping win, and a mighty statement to the rest of the field in its tournament opener.
