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India were at their best against Pakistan in their opening match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Cape Town courtesy of Jemimah Rodrigues' composed innings coupled with Richa Ghosh's intelligent power-hitting as they chased down arch-rivals Pakistan's 152 for the win.
But despite the loss, spirits were high in both camps as the players from India and Pakistan gelled with each other and mixed with each other in a warm manner. The video of the same was shared on Pakistan Cricket's official Twitter handle.
Players from both teams posed for a group photo, and India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan all-rounder Nida Dar exchanged jerseys as smiles were aplenty.
Match recap
Pakistan, who elected to bat, were reduced to 43/3 in the eighth over but they made a brilliant recovery, scoring 91 runs in the second half of their innings with captain Bismah Maroof (68 not out) and Ayesha Naseem (43 not out) stitching 81 runs for the unconquered fifth wicket.
Maroof struck seven fours during her 55-ball unbeaten knock while Naseem hit two fours and two sixes from 25 balls during her unbeaten innings. The duo frustrated the Indian bowlers for more than eight overs to take Pakistan to a competitive total.
For India, opener Yastika Bhatia fell after a painstaking 17 off 20 balls. Shafali Verma (33 off 25), on the other hand, scored quickly to keep the Indian scoreboard moving and take it past 50 in seven overs. However, India suffered a blow when Verma was dismissed near the halfway mark of the innings, leaving India 85 to get from the last 10 overs. Thereafter Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur (16 off 12) steadied India's boat.
But as soon as the skipper Harmanpreet returned to the pavilion, India was in a tricky position needing 55 from the last six overs. However, the steady head of Rodrigues, coupled with the big hits from Richa Ghosh (31 off 20) late in the innings helped India reach the target with six balls to spare.
