For the fourth successive Sunday, India came up trumps over Pakistan in cricket. After the men beat the Pakistanis thrice in Dubai in the recent Asia Cup, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. registered a comfortable 88-run win over the Fatima Sana-led side in their Women’s ODI World Cup game in Colombo.

Put into bat, India’s batting group struggled on a slow Premdasa wicket before Richa Ghosh’s late blitz (35 not out off 20 balls) dragged the team total to 247. With batting not getting any easier, the weak Pakistani batting line-up had a harrowing time against India’s bowling group before folding for 159 with 42 balls remaining.

Medium-pacer Kranti Goud and spinner all-rounder Deepti Sharma struck thrice each, while Sneh Rana picked up two wickets. For Pakistan, only Sidra Amin (81) could provide some resistance, with her 69-run fourth-wicket partnership with Natalia Pervaiz (33) being the only period when her team looked to be putting up a fight.

In terms of talent and overall ability, Indian women are at least a mile ahead of their Pakistani counterparts in any case.

But the pitch kept the Pakistani bowlers in the contest as India struggled for momentum throughout their innings, as each of their batters failed after getting starts, including openers Smriti Mandhana (23) and Pratika Rawal (31), who put on 48 runs for the first wicket in nine overs.

After Harmanpreet’s dismissal, Harleen Deol (46) and Jemimah Rodrigues (32) added 45 runs for the fourth wicket in a tough passage of play. While Deepti (25) and Sneh (20) added 42 runs for the sixth wicket, it was Richa’s 20-ball knock that gave India some momentum towards the end.

Halfway into the 46th over, India were 203/7 with Deepti too back in the hut. That’s when Richa took things in her stride and unleashed some meaty blows that took India closer to the 250 mark.

Importantly, Richa’s cameo gave India some much-needed momentum before they got down to defend the total.

No handshakes

Following in the footsteps of the men, captains Harmanpreet and Fatima didn’t shake hands at the toss. They just spoke to the broadcaster when the toss was over.

The players of both teams didn’t greet each other after the match either.

Brief scores: India Women 247 in 50 ovs (Harleen Deol 46, Richa Ghosh 35 n.o.; Diana Baig 4/69). Pakistan Women 159 in 43 ovs (Sidra Amin 81; Kranti Goud 3/20, Deepti Sharma 3/45). India Women won by 88 runs.