Pakistani batters failed to withstand the pressure from Indian spinners as they lost seven wickets within 31 runs to suffer a 64-run loss to their bitter rivals in the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday.
Deepti Sharma, whose five-wicket haul helped India to win the 50-over World Cup final last year, took five wickets again for just 10 runs as Pakistan collapsed for 106, far short of the target of 171 in a battle of nerves in the Group A clash.
"I varied my pace in every ball," said player-of-the-match Sharma.
"I always believe... whenever the time will come I'll step up for the team. That's how I play and bowl."
India and Pakistan engaged in a military conflict that nearly snowballed into a fully-fledged war last year. There has been a long freeze in bilateral cricket between the nuclear-armed neighbours, and they play each other only in neutral venues in multilateral tournaments.
NO HANDSHAKE BETWEEN CAPTAINS
There was no handshake between the captains once again as India's Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and chose to bat on Edgbaston's slow wicket, but her decision almost backfired when Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues fell in the first four overs.
But Smriti Mandhana and Kaur, calm under pressure, added 91 runs for the third wicket. Pakistan captain Fatima Sana (2-33) caught Mandhana (68) in the 14th over and got Kaur (36) caught near the boundary soon after, arresting India's momentum.
Under pressure again, India had a 21-ball spell when they could not hit a single boundary, before Richa Ghosh (34 off 17 balls) dug them out of that rut, hitting Tasmia Rubab for three fours and a six to collect 23 runs from the 19th over, getting them to 170-6.
SHARMA CHANGES THE GAME
Pakistan openers Muneeba Ali and Gull Feroza scored 37 off Indian seamers in the first four overs, forcing Kaur to bring on spinner Sharma early. Sharma turned the momentum in India's favour, dismissing Feroza and Ayesha in her first two overs.
Fellow spinner Shree Charani (3-21) sent back Saira Jabeen early, before opener Muneeba Ali (41) got run out by Sharma's direct throw, leaving Pakistan at 75-4. Sana fell soon after for a duck, kicking off the collapse.
Sharma wrapped up the match with three wickets in the 17th over.
"The batting side was very disappointing. We need to step up as we have a long way to go... we got sloppy," said Sana.
India will play Netherlands on Wednesday, while Pakistan face South Africa.
BRIEF SCORES
India 170 for 6 (Mandhana 68, Harmanpreet 36, Ghosh 34, Sana 2-33) beat Pakistan 106 (Muneeba 41, Deepti 5-10, Charani 3-21) by 64 runs
