Birmingham, June 14 (IANS) Deepti Sharma produced a career-best spell of 5-10 as India thrashed Pakistan by 64 runs to begin their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion at Edgbaston on Sunday.

Deepti, the off-spin bowling all-rounder, was the star in weaving a vicious spin web as Pakistan collapsed from 75 for 3 to 106 all out in 17 overs. Smriti Mandhana’s fluent 68 and Richa Ghosh’s late assault of 34 had earlier carried India to 170/6 in 20 overs. Apart from Deepti, left-arm spinner N Sree Charani also stood out with 3-21 as India pocketed two points and a healthy net run rate to assert their dominance against Pakistan yet again.

Pakistan began their chase with intent by racing to 52/1 in the powerplay – their highest score in the six-over phase against India in T20 World Cups. Muneeba Ali, dropped twice in the first four overs, made India pay by hitting four fluent boundaries. Gull Feroza added two boundaries against a shoddy Indian bowling line-up, before reverse-sweeping to backward point off Deepti.

After Pakistan won the power-play, they couldn’t capitalise on it – thanks to sharp spin bowling from India’s spinners in the middle overs. Deepti, who kept pressure on with her dot balls and bowling slower through the air, had Ayesha Zafar sweeping to short fine leg, before Sree Charani found Saira Jabeen’s leading edge and was caught at short cover.

Muneeba’s dismissal for 41 via Deepti’s direct hit from backward point proved to be the turning point, as Pakistan’s slide continued. Fatima Sana fell for a three-ball duck to Shafali, while Natalia Pervaiz was caught by extra cover off Charani. Aliya Riaz and Rameen Shamim failed to resist, as Deepti and Charani took them out. Deepti fittingly picked out the remaining two wickets to complete a five-for and secure a resounding win for India.

Brief Scores: India 170/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 68, Harmanpreet Kaur 36; Fatima Sana 2-33, Sadia Iqbal 2-41) beat Pakistan 106 all out in 17 overs (Muneeba Ali Siddiqui 41, Aliya Riaz 18; Deepti Sharma 5-10, N Sree Charani 3-21) by 64 runs

–IANS

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