NEW DELHI: India secured a commanding 88-run victory over neighbours Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.
The win extended India's unbeaten record against Pakistan to 12-0 in ODIs under the leadership of
Harmanpreet Kaur.
The match proceeded with expected patterns, though notably without the usual hostilities. India maintained their "no-handshake" policy at the toss and after the match, following the precedent set from the just concluded men's
Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE.
The game featured some unexpected moments, including a toss mishap, an unusual run out, and a 15-minute delay due to bugs on the field.
"Very happy, very important game for all of us, and I'm sure everyone back home is happy as well," Harmanpreet said at the post-match presentation.
India batted first after being sent in and posted 247 runs before being dismissed. Harleen Deol contributed 46 runs while Richa Ghosh added a quick 35 not out, though most batters struggled to convert their starts on the slow pitch.
"It wasn't an easy pitch to bat on, we wanted to bat longer and see how many runs we can get. It wasn't an easy pitch. It's been raining, and there was a hold on the pitch. We wanted to keep wickets in hand. The key was keeping wickets, Richa batted really well and gave us that crucial 30 runs," Harmanpreet said.
Pakistan's chase began poorly as they lost three early wickets, falling to 26 for 3 by the eighth over. They were eventually bowled out for 159 in 43 overs.
Sidra Amin stood out for Pakistan with a fighting 81 runs off 106 balls, while Natalia Pervaiz contributed 33 runs.
India's bowling attack proved effective with Kranti Goud taking 3/20 and
Deepti Sharma claiming 3/45. Shree Charani also contributed with 2/38.
"Our bowling was great. Kranti bowled really well, she was outstanding and Renuka helped her in getting the breakthroughs. We created so many chances, unfortunately, we dropped it, but in the end when you win you are happy," Harmanpreet said.
"There are a lot of areas but we are happy we won, just want to go with the momentum. Now we go back to India, we know how the pitches play there, we will look at the combinations and what team we need to play," Harmanpreet said regarding areas for improvement.
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