Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan women gifted India 10 penalty runs by consistently running on the pitch as they succumbed to a seven-wicket defeat by their archrivals in the Women’s World Twenty20 in Providence, West Indies on Sunday. Chasing a formidable target of 134, Mithali Raj came in, got set, struck her 16th T20I fifty and wrapped up victory with six balls and seven wickets to spare. Earlier, underdogs Pakistan posted a challenging total of 133-7 thanks to fifties from Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar, but twice were penalized five runs for running down the middle of the pitch, including on the final ball of their innings. “Look, it’s a silly mistake from us, we shouldn’t do this kind of thing and we should learn from this,” Dar admitted after the match. Pakistan captain Javeria Khan later admitted that it was unprofessional of her side to keep making such mistakes — and even mentioned a instance in Sri Lanka earlier this year, when they were docked for the same offence.

India are top of the early Group B table after also beating New Zealand in their opening match on Friday, while Pakistan have suffered two straight losses. India next face Ireland on Thursday, after Pakistan also take on the lowest-ranked team in the tournament on Tuesday.

Brief scores:

India 137 for 3 (Mithali Raj 56) beat Pakistan 133 for 7 (Bismah Maroof 53, Nida Dar 52, Poonam Yadav 2-22) by seven wickets.

Published in Daily Times, November 13^th 2018.