Women’s Asia Cup: India earn seven-wicket win over Pakistan despite Fatima’s three-for

Dubai: Powered by three-fors from N. Sree Charani and Prema Rawat, India produced a dominant all-round display to secure a convincing seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the 2026 Women’s T20 Asia Cup on Saturday by chasing down 56 in just 8.4 overs at the Dubai International Stadium.

The one-sided victory achieved with 68 balls remaining marked India’s fifth consecutive T20I win over Pakistan, as Harmanpreet Kaur-led side maintained their unbeaten start to the continental event.

Even as India and their fans rejoiced at the victory achieved via a relentless bowling masterclass from their spin quarter, Pakistan were left to rue another dismal performance with the bat after being bundled out for 55 – their lowest total in Women’s T20Is.

Shafali Verma set an explosive tone for the paltry chase by launching the very first delivery from Sadia Iqbal over long-off for a six. Shafali also became the youngest batter to reach 3,000 runs in women’s T20Is at 22 years and 220 days, as well as the fastest in terms of balls faced (2,182).

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana mounted a spirited fightback when she removed Shafali (12) by extracting a soft leading edge, completed via a caught-and-bowled dismissal, before getting Pratika Rawal (4) caught behind.

Fatima struck again in her second over by trapping Smriti Mandhana lbw after the opener hit her for a boundary, leaving India at 29/3 in the fourth over. The three-wicket burst made Fatima just the fourth bowler from a full-member nation to take three wickets in the powerplay overs of a women’s T20I twice in her career.

However, captain Harmanpreet, playing in her landmark 150th T20I game as the side’s skipper, and Deepti Sharma steadied the chase without further alarm. The duo took their time before Deepti released the pressure in the seventh over by stepping out to loft left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu over mid-wicket for four.

Harmanpreet and Deepti carefully negotiated the remaining runs, using soft hands and quick running to keep the scoreboard ticking. Harmanpreet capped off the win in style in the ninth over – after surviving a chance that just evaded an outstretched Fatima at mid-on for four, she stepped down the pitch to loft Nashra Sandhu cleanly over long-on for a six, as India signed off from the league stage with a hat-trick of wins.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 55 all out in 18.1 overs (Shawaal Zulfiqar 14, Muneeba Ali 13; N Sree Charani 3-7, Prema Rawat 3-9) lost to India 57/3 in 8.4 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 18 not out, Shafali Verma 12; Fatima Sana 3-170 by seven wickets

IANS