The Seasoned Mithali Raj hit a fine half-century to make light work of the 134-run target set by Pakistan, guiding India to a comfortable 7-wicket win over their neighbours to put one foot in the semis at Guyana on Sunday.
Mithali ended up with 56 off 47 balls and Smriti Mandhana too chipped in with 26 but she was far from her best as India reached home in the 19th over.
In a rare scenario, India started their chase with already 10 on board thanks to the twin penalties – 5-run each- imposed on Pakistan by the on-field umpires because their batters ran straight down the middle of the pitch multiple times despite being warned.
Pakistan made 135 while batting first but because their batters treaded twice on the danger area, the two singles were also deducted from their total and India had a target of 134.
But that doesn’t take anything away from Mithali’s innings, who was automatic choice to open the batting when the asking rate was below 7-runs per over. Mithali’s experience and batting style was the ideal one for the run chase and the India ODI captain showed why.
She and Mandhana got India off to a superb start by picking up easy boundaries. The duo raced to 50 in 6.3 overs laying a solid foundation for India’s chase. Madhana then got out for 26 to Bismah Mahroof but Mithali unperturbed Mithali continued to drive India towards the finishing line with young Jemimah Rodrigues.
The previous match half-centurion Jemimah, who struggled to find the middle of the bat, was out caught and bowled by Nida Dar for 16 off 23.
Looking for an early finish, Mithali was holed out at deep mid-wicket for 56. Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy completed the formalities in the 19th over.
Earlier, Indian bowlers pinned Pakistan down for the most part of their innings before allowing them to wriggle out for 133 for 7.
Opting to field after winning the toss, India made a great start with the ball, reducing Pakistan to 30 for 3 in the seventh over.
Pakistan made a fine recovery thanks to half-centuries from Bismah Maroof (53) and Nida Dar (52) as the duo stitched 93 runs for the fourth wicket to take their side to a competitive total.
India also dropped at least three easy catches, which allowed Pakistan to come back into the Group B match.
Opening bowler Arundhati Reddy immediately gave India the breakthrough by having Ayesha Zafar caught at the slips by Veda Krishnamurthy for nought in the final delivery of the first over.
Pakistan were yet to open account then and they could have been in a worse situation had Smriti Mandhana not dropped captain Javeria Khan in the third over.
But two run-outs in the space of three overs gave India the upper hand. First an outstanding direct throw from 18-year old Jemimah Rodrigues sent Umaima Sohail back to the pavilion in the fourth over while captain Javeria witnessed the same fate in the seventh over after a mixed-up.
Pakistan were on the ropes but India allowed them to gain grounds by having three dropped catches. All the three were regulation catches.
Veda Krishnamurthy dropped Nida Dar while on 15 in the 11th over. Poonam Yadav dropped the same batswoman in the 13th over when she was on 23. The next over, Poonam made a mess of a Bismah Maroof skier as she completely misjudged the trajectory of the ball.
Pakistan were still not out of the woods as they could only reach 53 for 3 at the half-way stage but the sloppy Indian fielding allowed their two batswomen Dar and Maroof to gain in confidence.
The Pakistani duo began to hit boundaries at regular intervals and both reached to their fifties towards the end of the innings. Maroof was the first to reach to her fifty in the 17th over while Dar did the same in the next over.
But both were out in the same 19th over in the space of three balls with Dayalan Hemalatha picking the two wickets. Poonam Yadav then scalped two Pakistani wickets in the final over -- that of Aliya Riaz (4) and Sana Mir (0).