Mandhana, Deepti rout listless Pakistan as India begin campaign with 64-run win

India began their Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on a winning note, beating arch-rivals Pakistan by 64 runs on Sunday, June 14, at Edgbaston, Birmingham. After opting to bat first, India posted a good score of 170, courtesy of a brilliant innings from Smriti Mandhana, while Richa Ghosh (34 off 17) also made a valuable contribution lower down the order.

For Pakistan, captain Fatima Sana (2/33) and Sadia Iqbal (2/41) chipped in with two wickets each. In reply, the Women in Green were skittled for 106 in 17 overs as Deepti Sharma picked up her second five-wicket haul in T20Is, while Shree Charani (3/21) also chipped in with three wickets.

Only Muneeba Ali (41 off 25), put up a strong fight for Pakistan, but failed to get any support from the rest of the batters. As a result, India registered their biggest victory against Pakistan (in terms of runs), earning two crucial points in Group A.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Deepti Sharma was adjudged Player of the Match for registering her best figures in T20Is. She helped India get their first breakthrough, dismissing Gull Feroza for 12 to break a 38-run opening stand. She further got rid of Ayesha Zafar and ran out a well-set Muneeba Ali (41 off 35) with a direct hit from backward point. Deepti later returned in the 17^th over and cleaned up the tail to complete her five-wicket haul.

Courtesy of her bowling display, she also became the leading wicket taker in Women’s T20Is, having 166 wickets to her name from 145 matches. Earlier, she also made a valuable contribution of 12* (9) with the bat.

Turning Point

Pakistan had a poor day in the field as they gave a couple of reprieves to Smriti Mandhana. She was first dropped on 27 by Aliya Riyaz at mid-off. The India opener was again given another life on 55, getting dropped on the mid-wicket boundary by Saira Jabeen.

Later in the innings, India managed to score 38 runs from the last two overs as Richa Ghosh launched an onslaught against Tasmia Rubab and Fatima Sana. A slow over rate meant that Pakistan had one fielder extra inside the circle for the last two overs, which gave India extra freedom to hit and propel their score to 170.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Harmanpreet Kaur (India women):  

Yeah, definitely. Very happy and firstly, I want to thank all Indian fans. They've been amazing. They've been there for us. So, we really, really want to thank them. (On Smriti and Deepti rising to the occasion) Whenever we need, they're always there to push the team. So, really happy the way they both played today. (What did you make of the pitch and conditions here?) Well, I think it was a decent pitch, but I think initially we unnecessarily put pressure on us. But after that, when Smriti and I was batting, we tried to control the game and then we got what we wanted. (When does she want Richa to come out to bat?) If it's in my hand, I would love to send her on the first ball. But I think she has some role to play and she's doing really well and really happy the way she played today. (Started wobbly in the field but got better as the game progressed) Cricket is a game of, if you catch every ball, if you take all the catches, you always win matches. And I think that's what happened while fielding. We wanted to give ourselves to every ball and really happy with the way we fielded and overall game. (It could come down to NRR) Every league game is important and really happy how we win today because that is something, which is going to help us [at the] end of the league games. (I saw you hobbling around at the end. Are you fine?) Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you very much.

Losing Captain, Fatima Sana (Pakistan women):

I think it's really disappointing (on the batting side). We need to step up in the next matches because we still have a long way to go in the World Cup. (On what went wrong in the field) I think we were good until the last 15 overs. After that, we gave away some extra runs. We also had a fielder come inside at one point, which cost us. We'll try to improve on those things in the next matches. (on why they had a slow overrate penalty) It might have been because of the left-right combination. But our team is young, and these players are gaining experience in these situations. They'll understand those moments better in the next matches. (On fielding) Obviously, catches win matches. Unfortunately, we dropped catches, especially as senior players. I think we need to improve both our bowling and fielding in the next match, as mistakes in the field can cost the whole match. (Could they have done anything differently?) We were trying to execute our plans and stick to what we had discussed. (On batting during PP) We were trying to be as positive as possible. Definitely. We won the powerplay in both batting and bowling, but after that we collapsed with the bat. We need to improve our batting so that we can get different results going forward.