Riding on Pooja Vastrakar’s half-century, India defeated Pakistan by 107 runs in their opening fixture of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022. With the win, Mithali Raj and co go on top of the table with a net run rate of +2.140. 

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Vastrakar scored 67 runs off 59 balls with the help of eight boundaries after Mithali Raj opted to bat first at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Opener Smriti Mandhana and Sneh Rana were the other batters who scored half-centuries to help their team recover from an early wobble and post 244/7 at the Bay Oval.

Chasing 245, Pakistan were dismissed for 137 in 43 overs. Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad starred with the ball. She recorded figures of 4/31 after her full quota of 10 overs. Jhulan Goswami finished with 2/29, Rana picked two wickets (2/27). 

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After losing Shafali Verma early in the innings,  Mandhana (52 off 75 balls) and Deepti Sharma (40 off 57) steadied the ship with a 92-run stand. 

However, Pakistan came back strongly by claiming a flurry of wickets, including the scalps of skipper Mithali Raj (9) and her deputy Haramanpreet Kaur (5).

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For Pakistan, spinners Nida Dar (2/45) and Nashra Sandhu (2/36) snared two wickets each. Opener Sidra Ameen top-scored for them with 30 runs. 

India skipper Mithali Raj, after the win, praised the all-rounders. 

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“I am happy we won the first game but a lot of things to work on. When you lose wickets in the middle order, it does put a lot of pressure. The top-order has to score runs in a big tournament like this. When you have all-rounders like Sneh, Deepti and Pooja, we extend our batting line up. Hope Pooja would be fine before the next game,” she said.