Dubai, Sep 4 (IANS) With a semi-final spot in the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup already sealed, seven-time champions will seek to refine their approach of playing T20Is when they take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their final Group A clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

While high-profile encounters between the two nations frequently generate immense off-field anticipation, especially happening only during multi-nation events, recent fixtures have rarely produced tight and gripping contests.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India enter the clash as clear favourites to win over Pakistan, despite their middle-order not performing upto the mark, an aspect which has come under scrutiny due to associate teams exposing those weaknesses yet again on Dubai’s slow pitches.

Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and her opening partner Shafali Verma come into the match in prime form, after having hit 124 and 64 against Hong Kong China and Thailand respectively. Smriti, in particular, is arriving after creating a slew of records on Thursday night – where she surpassed former teammate Mithali Raj’s record of most runs in international women’s cricket.

She also registered her 18th international hundred, and moved ahead of Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt to get the new record for most centuries across all formats in the women’s game. One would expect Smriti to get another big knock against Pakistan, considering she did hit a match-winning fifty against them in this year’s T20 World Cup clash in Edgbaston.

In the bowling department, pacer Nandani Sharma has been an encouraging watch alongside Kranti Gaud to get breakthroughs, while Deepti Sharma has continued to pick wickets aplenty.

Meanwhile, Pakistan remain in contention for the semi-finals following an opening victory against Thailand, but their persistent batting vulnerabilities remain a primary concern. The side found themselves at 25/3 during the powerplay before successfully defending a target of 119 against their lower-ranked opponents.

Pakistan continues to depend heavily on top-order wicketkeeper-batter Muneeba Ali and captain Fatima Sana to set up the tempo. But Pakistan will need drastic improvement in their batting to compete against a much formidable Indian team.

When: Saturday, September 5, 8:00 PM IST

Where: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

Where to watch: The match will be shown live on Sony Sports Ten 1 SD & HD channels on TV. Live-streaming will be available on Sony LIV app and website.

Squads

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Prema Rawat, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Nandni Sharma, Kranti Gaud, and Pratika Rawal.

Pakistan: Fatima Sana (captain), Ayesha Zafar, Eman Naseer, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Momina Riasat, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (wk), Sadaf Shamas, Nashra Sundhu, Sadia Iqbal, Saira Jabeen, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani, and Waheeda Akhtar.

–IANS

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