Pakistan were let down by their batting unit after India were restricted to 247 in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 fixture in Colombo. Sidra Amin waged a lone war for the chasing side, her innings of two halves beseeching for support as India struck at regular intervals to dismiss Pakistan for 159 and move to the top of the table with the 88-run victory. India extended their unbeaten streak against Pakistan to 12 ODIs, including five in the history of this marquee event.
After Pakistan opted to field, with some calling confusion at the toss, sans the handshakes between the captains, Pratika Rawal got the Indian innings underway with a hat-trick of elegant boundaries through the off-side off Diana Baig. Her senior partner, Smriti Mandhana, didn’t exactly blaze off the blocks, and even survived a leg-before review with the ball pitching outside leg, before the disciplined Fatima Sana trapped her in front for a scratchy 23 off 32 balls. Despite Harleen Deol using her feet to tremendous effect to strike a six off Rameen Shamim, overs 10-15 yielded only 13 runs while an arm ball from Sadia Iqbal knocked over the promising Rawal on 31.
Harleen and captain Harmanpreet Kaur tried to weather the storm but Pakistan kept their foot on India’s throat, with the third-wicket partnership worth 39 coming at a poor strike rate of 66. Kaur was looking all over the place and eventually suffered a soft dismissal – caught down the leg-side – departing for a 34-ball 19. Baig should have also claimed the wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues in her next over when she had the batter edging behind only to learn that she had overstepped. The dependable Indian middle-order batter was also lucky to escape a run-out chance after Harleen did not respond to a call for a sharp single. The proactive pair helped India past 150 in the 33rd over.
The blossoming partnership, however, came to an end as Harleen fell four shy of a fifty, holing out to long-on to hand Shamim her first wicket. Meanwhile, the players wrangled with rainy-season bugs before they eventually left the field to let the fumigation experts to deal with the nuisance. Soon after resumption, Rodrigues was pinned in front by Nashra Sandhu attempting a sweep, with Pakistan employing technology, as India slipped to 159/5 in 35 overs, and could only manage another 20 in the next five.
Sneh Rana, who consumed a lot of dot balls early in her innings, finally struck her first boundary with a cut shot off Sadia Iqbal in the 41st over, and Deepti then swept the left-arm orthodox for a four in the 43rd. Rana found the fence again off Sana to drive India past 200 before the Pakistan skipper had her caught at long-on owing to a miscue. In the next over, Baig had Deepti nicking to the wicketkeeper, sabotaging India’s hopes of a final flourish. However, Pakistan still had to get past Richa Ghosh, who walked out to bat at No.8 for the first time in her career. She teed off in quick order, hitting a six off Sana, followed by a four and a six off Baig in a productive 48th over. Sadia got rid of Shree Charani in the 49th over but Ghosh hammered two fours in the same over. Ghosh and Gaud peeled off a boundary apiece off Baig in the final over before the pacer whose economy wasn’t the greatest on the day hit back with two wickets off the last two balls to keep India below 250.
It was an overly vigilant start to the chase for Pakistan as Renuka Thakur – coming in place of an ill Amanjot Kaur – and Kranti Gaud were generating movement both ways. India, however, burned a review first ball and were apprehensive of referrals going forward, as a result of which they missed out on three potential lbw dismissals. Muneeba Ali was run out for 2 by an alert Deepti, having lifted the bat at an inopportune time after making her ground at the striker’s end. Amin fetched the first four, in the fifth over, and was given a life when Ghosh bungled up the first of the several catches she dropped on the night. Gaud was a force to be reckoned with as the Indian seamers bowled unchanged till the 15th over, ending Sadaf Shamas’ stay by accepting a return catch. Amin enjoyed the rub of the green once more courtesy of Richa, this time off Thakur who offered her teammate a wry smile. Pakistan’s progress, though, was kept in check as they could only score 25 in the first 10 overs.
India lost their last available review when they challenged the on-field verdict for a leg-side strangle in Thakur’s over but the ball had merely made contact with the pad. They continued to make life difficult for Pakistan, nevertheless, as Gaud got Aliya Riaz to edge to second slip and produced a wicket-maiden. The jailbreak shots came only in the 16th over, after nearly 10 overs without a boundary, when Natalia Pervaiz imposed herself on Rana.
Amin was put down by Shree Charani off her own bowling and proceeded to marmalize a six off Rana, the first maximum for Pakistan against India in ODIs. Yes, you read that right! They were able to move the scoreboard along with the spinners on, as Amin and Pervaiz brought up a half-century stand, ushering their side to 84/3 at the halfway mark. The on-song Gaud returned to the attack in the 28th over and immediately provided the breakthrough, getting Pervaiz to slice one to backward point. Sana scratched around for 2 off 15, eventually locating a fielder in the deep off Deepti to leave Pakistan in tatters at 102/5 in the 31st over.
Amin though was going great guns, having overcome her sedate start. She reached 50 off 82 balls and began dictating terms, with Sidra Nawaz supporting her from the other end. They put on a brisk 41-run stand, which came to an end when an on-the-move Nawaz drilled a full-toss straight back to Rana. Deepti knocked over Shamim cheaply while Rana had the dangerous Amin caught at square leg attempting a scoop, effectively hammering the final nail in Pakistan’s coffin. The last two wickets fell in a jiffy – Baig was run out by an agile Kaur and Iqbal was caught off Deepti’s bowling – as India completed an emphatic victory and trailed off the park without engaging in the customary handshake ritual.
Brief scores: India 247 in 50 overs (Harleen Deol 46, Richa Ghosh 35*; Diana Baig 4-69, Fatima Sana 2-38) beat Pakistan 159 in 43 overs (Sidra Amin 81, Natalia Pervaiz 33; Kranti Gaud 3-20, Deepti Sharma 3-45) by 88 runs.
