India captain Harmanpreet Kaur became the leading run-scorer for India in Women’s T20 World Cup history during the team’s clash against Pakistan at Edgbaston. Harmanpreet went past the previous record held by Mithali Raj, who had amassed 726 runs in 24 tournament matches. Entering the contest needing just one run to claim the milestone, Harmanpreet surpassed the mark in the fourth over and took sole possession of the record.
Most runs for India in T20 World Cup history:
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet arrived on the crease in the fourth over of the game, after Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues departed early. The Indian opener started the innings with a cracking six, but failed to keep up with the momentum. She played three consecutive dot balls before Sadia Iqbal got the better of her.ย
Shafaliโs dismissal brought Jemimah Rodrigues to the crease, but the youngster failed to impress as well. She was struggling heavily in the middle before departing for just one run in seven balls. The Mumbai batter attempted to release some pressure off her with a lifted shot, but failed to time it as Natalia Pervaiz completed the catch to end her stay. With that, India were reduced to 18/2 in the middle.
The focus is now on the seniors, Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana. They need to bail the team out of trouble before the likes of Bharti Fulmali and Richa Ghosh accelerate in the death overs. The duo now needs to play some sensible cricket in the middle, but also need to take care of the strike rate.
India opt to bat first
India had opted to bat first after winning the toss. Harmanpreet explained that the wicket looked great to bat first as they wanted to put pressure on the arch-rivals. She also announced that Yastika Bhatia will miss the clash, as the team management wanted more firepower in the middle and for the same reason, Fulmali was preferred.ย
India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud
Pakistan Women (Playing XI): Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Ayesha Zafar, Saira Jabeen, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (c), Rameen Shamim, Nashra Sandhu, Tasmia Rubab, Sadia Iqbal
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