ICC Women's World Cup: Rajeshwari's 4/31 Helps India Cruise to Victory Over Pak

India extend their unbeaten streak in ODIs against Pakistan to 11 matches.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Smriti Mandhana celebrate the wicket of Javeria Khan of Pakistan during the 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match.

(Photo: ICC)

• The Indian women's cricket team beat Pakistan by 107 runs on Sunday in the 2022 ICC Women's ODI World Cup.

• India: 244/7 in 50 overs (Pooja Vastrakar 67, Sneh Rana 53 not out; Nashra Sandhu 2/36)

• Pakistan:137 all out in 43 overs (Sidra Ameen 30, Diana Baig 24; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 4/31)

Mithali Raj's Indian women's cricket team have started their World Cup campaign with a massive 107 run victory over rivals Pakistan on Sunday. The win extends India's unbeaten run against Pakistan in the format to 11 matches.

Riding on half centuries from Pooja Vastrakar (67 off 59), Sneh Rana (53 not out off 48) and Smriti Mandhana (52 off 75), India posted 244/7 but Pakistan's chase never really took off with opener Sidra Ameen top-scoring for the team with 30.

They were bowled out for 137 as Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked 4/31 while Jhulan Goswami and Sneh Rana picked two wickets apiece.

Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bat first and saw three players scoring half centuries to help the team post 244/7 following a major middle order collapse.

India got off to a poor start as opener Shafali Verma (0) was dismissed by Pakistan seamer Diana Baig in the third over. However, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma stitched a partnership of 92 runs for the second wicket and helped India build a strong foundation.

Things were looking good for India before Nashra Sandhu's dismissal of Deepti in the 22nd overs opened the corridors for Pakistan to make a strong return.

Pakistan took five quick wickets- of Deepti Sharma (40), Smriti Mandhana (52), Harmanpreet Kaur (5), Richa Ghosh (1) and Mithali Raj (9) to destabilise the Indian innings.

At 114/6 in 33.1 overs, India were in deep trouble, leaving them with plenty of work to do.

From there on, Pooja Vastrakar (67) and Sneh Rana (53 not out) put on a game-changing 122-run stand for the seventh wicket to revive India. The duo bailed India out of trouble and propelled their team to a competitive score of 244/7 in 50 overs.

During the process, Vastrakar and Rana also shattered records. The duo now holds the record for the highest partnership for the seventh wicket in the women's world cups. Overall, it was an innings of two halves.

Pakistan bowled superbly in the 35 overs before Vastrakar and Rana's partnership took the game away from them.

Indian players celebrate a Pakistani wicket.

Chasing 245 for the win, Pakistan were off to a slow start, scoring just 26/0 at the end of the Powerplay as the Indian team did some tight bowling. The pressure got to the openers as Javeria Khan (11) departed in the 11th over, trying to take the aerial route.

The spinners continued to keep a lid on the scoring, with Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana picking up prized scalps of skipper Bismah Maroof (15) and Omaima Sohail (5) respectively. Brought back into the attack, Jhulan Goswami got in on the action immediately, dismissing the set batter Sidra Ameen (30) caught behind. Pakistan lost half their side as the veteran pacer struck again in her next over to remove Nida Dar for 4.

Pakistan were in a precarious position at 78/5 at the halfway point in their innings and from there on there was no coming back for them. Gayakwad was on song and almost unplayable at times as she had the batters on strings. If there were any hopes of a comeback, she put them to rest with the wickets of Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana and Sidra Nawaz in an incredible spell of spin bowling, finishing with figures of 4/31 in her 10 overs.

The final wicket partnership of 23 between Diana Baig (24 off 35) and Anam Amin only delayed the inevitable. Meghna returned to pick up the final wicket of Baig as Pakistan were rolled over for 137 in 43 overs. Apart from Gayakwad, the other Indian bowlers -- Jhulan Goswami (2/26), Sneh Rana (2/27), Meghna Singh (1/21) and Deepti Sharma (1/31) also chipped in with wickets.

(With inputs from IANS)