COLOMBO: Renuka Singh was at the top of her mark to bowl the fifth over of the Pakistan innings at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday evening. Pakistan had scored six runs from the first four in the chase of 248, and Sadaf Shamas had taken strike to face Renuka.
That is when the big screen came into the picture. The run out appeal of Muneeba Ali, the other opener, which was declared not out by the third umpire, was being reviewed again. Why? Ali, who was hit on the pads by Kranti Gaud, was standing on the crease with the Indian team appealing. It was turned down by the on-field umpire, but Deepti Sharma, standing at slips, had thrown the ball at the stumps. It hit, and a run out was reviewed.
Upon review, it was visible that Ali had dragged her bat back in, and the third umpire said not out. The over was called, players moved on. But then, the third umpire took it upon herself to review it back again as Ali had lifted her bat off the ground, and it was in the air when the bails came off. That is when she declared out.
Harmanpreet Kaur was pumped up, celebrating and embracing Deepti and her teammates while her counterpart, Fatima Sana, was arguing with the fourth umpire. Ali eventually walked off and the chase went on, but it summed up a drama-filled contest with little cricket in between.
It began at the start itself with Sana, who could be heard calling tails but was inferred heads by the match referee, being awarded the toss and no one, including Kaur, objected. Then, on a sluggish surface, India lost Smriti Mandhana early before Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol continued to stagnate. Dot balls piled on, and the pressure eventually caught up. First, Rawal fell, with Kaur joining Deol in the middle. The latter, not a proactive runner between the wickets, tried to break the shackles once in a while, but the rotation of strike was not happening. Eventually, Kaur fell to a soft dismissal, nicking Diana Baig down the leg side. Once Jemimah Rodrigues joined Deol in the middle, she forced her partner to run a lot more. It came with risks as Rodrigues almost got run out once. She was also caught behind before getting a no-ball reprieve. The stand ended with Deol being caught in the deep after scoring 46 off 65.
In between, there were multiple stoppages because a swarm of bugs and flies that kept disturbing the batters. It came to a point where they stopped play for about 15 minutes to fumigate the entire ground. However, with the momentum lost, Rodrigues went for her go-to sweep shot to pick up some boundaries. However, that strategy also cost her as she was trapped on the pads by Nashra Sandhu.
India, in a bid to ensure there is no further collapse, sent Sneh Rana ahead of Richa Ghosh with 15 overs to go. That, however, did not go well. Both Deepti and Rana, with their limited range of shots, could not keep the scoreboard moving. Between overs 35-40, they scored just 13 runs before Rana eventually got some boundaries. Even then, when Rana got out, India were 203/6 with 30 balls to go. Ghosh, who went on to drop three catches later during the chase, came out to bat at eight. Despite the fear of it being too little too late, Ghosh played a sensible cameo of 35 not out from 20 balls which took India to 247. In the end, she was left stranded with everyone else getting out at the other end. "It was not an easy pitch because it was covered for 48 hours. Moisture on the pitch and that was giving it a bit of hold. This is a fighting total for us," Rodrigues said during the mid-innings break.
For Pakistan, the chase was never going to be easy after losing momentum at the start. After the controversial Ali run out, Gaud kept pegging away with wickets at regular intervals. Sharma did her part, getting rid of Sana. A valiant knock by Sidra Amin (81 off 106) kept Pakistan interested but eventually, they fell well short of their target. Soon after Amin's dismissal, Pakistan were bundled out for 159 in 43 overs with India winning by 88 runs.
There was not much expected in terms of rivalry on the field in the lead-up to this clash. But the surface, and India's lack of application made it look like one, at least for a brief while before Ghosh put India in control. From the moment they posted 247, it was always India's game to lose.
Brief scores: India 247 in 50 ovs (Deol 46, Ghosh 35 n.o, Rodrigues 32; Baig 4/69) bt Pakistan 159 in 43 ovs (Sidra 81, Pervaiz 33; Gaud 3/20, Deepti 3/45).