Gaud stars in India's dominant win over Pakistan

Eight Indian batters reached double digits on a sluggish Colombo surface, but Harleen Deol's 46 proved the top score as the visitors posted a competitive 247. The total turned out to be more than enough, with India's bowlers - led by Kranti Gaud's 3 for 20 - dismissing Pakistan for 159 to seal an 88-run win and move to the top of the table. Sidra Amin fought a lone battle with a resilient 81, but with little support from the other end, Pakistan fell well short as India extended their unbeaten streak against them to 12 ODIs, including five at the 50-over World Cup.

After Pakistan opted to field, with some confusion at the toss, sans the handshakes, Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana got India off to a positive start. The openers dealt in regular boundaries, including three in an over for Rawal off Diana Baig. Mandhana slowed down a touch a few overs into the innings, and also didn't appear too fluent. She survived a leg-before review from Pakistan, with the ball pitching outside leg, before Fatima Sana trapped her in front for 23 off 32. India moved to 54/1 after 10 overs but Pakistan then slowed things down. Despite Harleen striking a six off Rameen Shamim, the next five overs yielded only 13 runs and a fine delivery from Sadia Iqbal also had Rawal bowled for 31.

Harleen and Harmanpreet Kaur tried to build a base but Pakistan kept things tight, with the third wicket stand worth 39 coming at a strike rate of 66. The reintroduction of Baig resulted in the end of the partnership as Harmanpreet was caught down the leg-side, departing for a 34-ball 19. Baig should have also picked up the wicket Jemimah Rodrigues in her next over when she got the batter to edge to the 'keeper, only to find out later that she had overstepped. Rodrigues put away the free-hit for a four and kept the boundaries coming regularly to give India a move on. Rodrigues and Harleen also rotated the strike well, getting singles and twos frequently, as they helped India past 150 in the 33rd over.

The partnership, however, came to an end as Harleen fell four short of a fifty, finding long-on to give Shamim her first wicket. Meanwhile, there were regular interruptions due to pest problems. The players tried to fight out the bugs with sprays before they eventually left the field to allow the fumigation experts to deal with it. Soon after resumption, Rodrigues was trapped in front by Nashra Sandhu attempting a sweep, with Pakistan having to use the review, as India slipped to 159/5 in 35 overs, and could only get 20 in the next five.

Sneh Rana, who had scored 5 off 18, finally struck her first boundary with a cut shot off Sadia Iqbal in the 41st over, and Deepti then swept the same bowler for a four in the 43rd. Rana hit another boundary off Sana to take India past 200 before the Pakistan skipper had her caught at long-on off a miscue. In the next over, Baig had Deepti edging to the 'keeper, further denting India's hopes of a flourishing finish. But Pakistan still had to contend with Richa Ghosh, who only came in at No. 8, the first time in her career. She didn't take long to get going, hitting a six off Sana, followed by a a four and a six off Baig in a 13-run 48th over. Sadia dismissed Shree Charani in the 49th over but Ghosh struck two fours in the same over. Ghosh and Gaud got a boundary each off Baig in the final over before the bowler hit back with two wickets off the last two balls to keep India below 250.

It was a watchful start to the chase for Pakistan as Renuka Thakur - coming in place of an unwell Amanjot Kaur - and Gaud were moving the ball and kept it tight, with only six runs coming in the first four overs. India, however, lost a review first ball and were very wary of referrals going forward, as a result of which they missed out on three potential lbw dismissals. But they had a fortuitous breakthrough as Muneeba Ali was run out for 2, lifting the bat after grounding it at the striker's end when a Deepti throw hit the stumps. Amin hit the first four, in the fifth over, and had a reprieve when Ghosh missed a catch off Gaud's bowling. Gaud then ended Sadaf Shamas' stay by taking a return catch but Amin had another lucky break as the wicketkeeper put down another catch, this time off Thakur. Pakistan's progress, though, was kept in check as they could only get 25 in the first 10 overs.

India lost their last available review when they went up for a leg-side caught-behind in Thakur's over but the ball only made contact with the pad. They continued to make inroads, nevertheless, as Gaud got Aliya Riaz to edge to second slip and bagged a wicket-maiden. Thakur bowled a maiden as well, and Gaud gave away only two runs in her seventh over, as the new-ball pair delivered 15 overs straight and conceded only 30. The pressure-release shot came only in the 16th over, after nearly 10 overs without a boundary, when Natalia Pervaiz got two fours off Rana.

Amin was put down by Shree Charani off her own bowling and then struck a six off Rana, the first maximum for Pakistan against India in ODIs. Pakistan made better progress with the spinners on, as Amin and Pervaiz got regular boundaries to bring up a half-century stand, taking their side to 84/3 at the halfway stage. Gaud came back into the attack for the 28th over and immediately broke the partnership, getting Pervaiz to slice one to backward point. Sana scratched around for 2 off 15, eventually getting caught in the deep off Deepti to leave Pakistan at 102/5 in the 31st over.

Amin got to 50 off 82 balls and started finding the boundaries regularly, with Sidra Nawaz giving her good support from the other end. They put on a brisk 41-run stand, which ended when Nawaz miscued one straight back to Rana. Deepti then had Shamim bowled while Rana had Amin caught at square leg attempting a scoop, effectively shutting down the one last hope Pakistan had. The last two wickets fell quickly - Baig was run out and Iqbal was caught off Deepti's bowling - as India completed a comfortable victory and walked off without handshakes.

Brief scores: India 247 in 50 overs (Harleen Deol 46, Richa Ghosh 35*; Diana Baig 4-69, Fatima Sana 2-38) beat Pakistan 159 in 43 overs (Sidra Amin 81, Natalia Pervaiz 33; Kranti Gaud 3-20, Deepti Sharma 3-45) by 88 runs.