‘Chak De India’: Twitter ecstatic after India beat Pakistan by eight wickets in their second match at CWG 2022

The action continued in cricket in the Commonwealth Games 2022 on Day 3 as arch-rivals India and Pakistan faced each other in the 5^th Match on Sunday. Both India and Pakistan came into this fixture after losing their previous encounters against Australia and Barbados respectively. Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof called it correctly at the toss and decided to bat first in the rain-curtailed game of 18 overs.

Pakistan openers, Muneeba Ali and Iram Javed walked out to the middle, and were put under pressure straight away by the Indian bowlers as they started with a maiden. The pressure finally got to Javed as she was caught behind by wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia. The dismissal brought the Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof to the crease as she tried to stabilize the innings with Muneeba Ali after the early blow. The duo added 50 runs for the second wicket.

After the solid partnership, the Pakistan batters completed lost control of the innings and began losing wickets continuously. The Indian bowlers didn’t let loose and tightened their grip on the match as the Pakistan batter surrendered to their relentless bowling.

Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav picked up 2 wickets each. Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh and Shafali Verma also picked up one wicket each as Pakistan failed to reach even 100-run-mark and got bundled out for 99 in the allotted 18 overs.

The Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana gave a blistering start to the Indian innings as they took the attack on the Pakistan bowlers right from ball one. The duo took the game away from Pakistan as they added 61 runs for the first wicket in 5.5 overs. Tuba Hassan finally broke the partnership as she dismissed Varma.

The dismissal didn’t put brakes on Mandhana’s fearless strokeplay as she continued to charge down the track taking on the bowlers. She brought up her half-century sending a ball from Tuba Hassan into the stands. Mandhana’s 42-ball 63 run knock helped India chase down the target easily with 38 balls to spare as they won by eight wickets.

India are now placed second in Group A points table as they have a better run-rate than Barbados. The team will face next on 3^rd August. The winner of the match will progress to the semi-finals.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to the victory by Women In Blue: