Mithali Raj-led side opened their Women's World Cup 2022 campaign on Sunday (March 6) in the high-octane drama against arch-rival Pakistan. 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.
India will be aiming to put on a good show against arch-rivals Pakistan and get their campaign off to a winning start. The Indian women's cricket team will hope its bowlers find top form to complement a solid batting unit's efforts. Runners-up in the 2017 and 2005 editions, India are eager to go one step ahead and claim the title that has eluded them, especially skipper Mithali Raj and veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami, who are playing their last World Cup.
