The Mithali-led India kicked off their Women's Cricket World Cup campaign against Pakistan on Sunday (March 6) as the Men in Blue posted a competitive 244/7 for Pakistan to chase.
The Indo-Pakistan rivalry match saw a flurry of records being made as Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar stitched together a world-record breaking stand which bolstered Team India who were once wobbling at 114/6. After skipper Mithali Raj's (9) dismissal, Rana walked in at No.7 when the 2017 World Cup runners up needed her the most.
Rana scored an unbeaten 53 off 48, loaded with four boundaries while Vastrakar stood tall with an impressive 59-ball 67 comprising eight boundaries as the seventh-wicket pair stitched a 122-run stand. The unprecedented partnership is not just the highest for the wicket in Women's World Cup, but also in ODIs, surpassing the unbeaten 104-run stand between New Zealand's NJ Browne and SJ Tsukigawa in 2007 against England in Chennai.
After winning the toss, India opted to bat first as the high-profile opener Smriti Mandhana achieved a rare feat while cracking a superb half-century to spur Women in Blue to a competitive 244/7 after a sloppy start. Smriti smashed 52 off 75 to become the fourth highest run-scorer for India in women’s ODIs. Mandhana has so far scored 2513 runs in 65 ODIs. And, in this Indian list of runs, only Mithali Raj, Anjum Chopra and Harmanpreet Kaur are ahead of them. The 25-year-old played an impressive knock which was fuelled with three fours and a six. This was Mandhana's 21st half-century in ODIs and third in World Cup.
After losing opener Shafali Verma for a duck, India picked themselves up immensely well with Mandhana and Deepti Sharma (40 off 57) shouldering the responsibility with a brilliant 92-run stand for the second. However, Mandhana departed soon after completing a brilliant fifty while Deepti also lost her wicket which balanced it out to bring Pakistan back into the game. Bismah Maroof-led side continued to make regular inroads as Nida Dar rocked the Indian batting order with two wickets of Harmanpreet Kaur (5 off 14) and Richa Ghosh (1 off 5) in quick succession while Nashra Sandhu bagged the big scalp of skipper Mithali Raj who departed of 9 off 36.
Later, Sneh Rana bolstered the Indian innings with a smashing 53 off 48. She found an able partner in Pooja Savarkar who belted 67 off 59 which was loaded with 8 boundaries as they together guided India to a respectable total of 244/7.
Meanwhile, Mithali Raj achieved a rare World Cup record as just by appearing for the opening match against Pakistan at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, Mithali became the first women cricketer to feature in record six Women's World Cup tournaments. The veteran cricketer also equalled the record previously held by Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.
She made her maiden World Cup appearance in 2000, before playing in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and now in 2022. She surpassed former New Zealand cricketer Debbie Hockley and Charlotte Edwards of England. Meanwhile, Jhulan Goswami, her teammate, stands second on the list with five World Cup tournament appearance.
Mithali is also only the third cricketer – male or female – to participate in six ICC World Cups and she has ensured the record enters a new decade as former Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad appeared in the first six Men's Cricket World Cups between 1975 and 1996 and Sachin Tendulkar played six beginning with the 1992 World Cup.
