India and Pakistan will face off in a thrilling T20 World Cup match at Nassau County Stadium in Long Island, creating the latest chapter of one of cricket’s oldest rivalries based on geopolitics and globalization.
Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana have aggressively pursued a target of 109 for 4. Mandhana hit two fours from two balls she slog swept to deep midwicket for fours – she also lofted one over extra cover!
Overview
India and Pakistan face each other again on Sunday in another high-stakes World Cup match, this time amid an charged political atmosphere in India where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP have come under scrutiny from rights groups for what some consider an unlawful crackdown against minorities.
Hemalatha finishes out the final ball of her over without taking a wicket, signalling India are still in control of this contest despite their poor start.
India maintain momentum as Axar Patel hits a four off the first ball of each over, but Pakistan cannot. A run-out from Radha Yadav gives India their first wicket of the day.
India Scorecard
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put Pakistan bowlers under extreme pressure with their aggressive batting from the outset, amassing an enormous total for India while forcing their counterparts from Pakistan into late stage partnerships that proved unsuccessful – leaving them under tremendous strain to score runs themselves.
Deepti Sharma of Pakistan broke the backbone of their batting, dismissing Tuba Hassan and Nashra Sandhu consecutively in consecutive overs to reduce India to 109 for 4. She was assisted by Radha Yadav who dropped a tough catch earlier, yet made amends with an outstanding run out off Deepti’s bowler later.
Naseem Shah hit some boundaries and looked set to help Pakistan move closer towards their target, but was dismissed off the opening ball of Hardik Pandya’s over. Pandya bowler unleashed a short yorker that Shah couldn’t get under and was holed out to wicket-keeper Pant.
Pakistan Scorecard
Pakistani batters appear to be finding their groove after an initial slow start and looked set for victory until Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya sent them packing with an incredible innings score of 113 runs each.
Radha Yadav takes an excellent catch at midwicket from Syeda Aroob Shah while Hemalatha was dismissed by Deepti Sharma with a well-judged throw to long-on. Kaur played several dot balls before scoring two runs via cuts to third man and then sweeper cover.
She then misses a lofted shot to square leg and is run out by Navdeep. Yadav was dropped by Heyliger at point, while Rizwan received some mercy after getting an outside edge trying to dab this to backward point; later in the over he struck several singles for himself.
Scorecard
The match between two of cricket’s greatest rivals will be watched by an estimated 400million viewers worldwide. It was supposed to start at 10:30am ET but rain caused delays.
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on an outstanding show as they toy with Pakistan bowlers, hitting several fours and sixes to put pressure on them.
After just a few overs, Pakistan’s hopes for a big score began to diminish as Deepti Sharma struck again, dismissing Nida Dar and Renuka Thakur Singh taking down Iram Javed with her very first delivery at backward point.
Fatima Sana attempted to add more runs, but her drive off a Nashra Sandhu delivery was caught at sweeper cover by Radha Yadav. Still unfazed by this misfortune, Sana continued batting unperturbed by hitting four fours to deep square leg before cutting an off-cut delivery from Naseem Shah for one run – leaving Pakistan at 57/6 after 12 overs.
Rivalry
The two teams share an adversarial and volatile relationship, driven by decades of contention over Kashmir. Since 2012 they have played 17 ODI series between themselves; their most recent two-matcher was even tied.
Saturday’s match will take place amid an atmosphere of tension, as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP party have recently come under attack from rights groups for what they regard as increased religious intolerance.
But the game will surely entertain millions, as millions watch its spectacle unfold live. “This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch my favourite team live,” said Avro Mukerji, 24, a business analyst from New Delhi who will attend wearing blue India jersey and attending his favorite team’s match for a souvenir he will remember fondly forever.
FInal Words
India National Cricket Team Vs Pakistan National Cricket Team Matches are compete against one another in the World Cup not just as cricket players but as two neighbours divided by 1947’s partition of the Indian subcontinent, when 10 million people were uprooted from their homes in one of history’s largest mass migrations ever witnessed.
At its heart lies an ancient rivalry that has long been both competition and conflict; both sides utilize cricket as a form of diplomacy between matches. Pakistan President Zia ul-Haq initiated this practice of cricket diplomacy when he visited India to watch a match during growing tensions over Kashmir’s territory dispute.
Now, cricket has its sights set on expanding its fan base in America; New York City serves as an ideal location. Here, there is an expansive and passionate South Asian diaspora.
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