Women's cricket has made its debut at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham and one of the favorites India have already lost their first match to the might Australians. However, all eyes will be on India's second match as they take on arch-rival Pakistan in the big-ticket contest on July 31, Sunday.
Both Pakistan and India will try to win the match as Pakistan also lost their opening clash to Barbados. While India are placed third in Group A, Pakistan is are placed fourth. However, India will start as a clear favorite in the all-important match although nothing can be predicted given the age-old rivalry between the two neighbors. Here's all how to watch the India-W vs Pakistan-W T20 match.
Big Match
After a long time, the Indian women's team is featuring a major event without Mithali Raj. With Raj now having retired from the sport, the Indian women's team is being led by Harmanpreet Kaur.
However, it wasn't a great start for Kaur as a skipper as India lost their opening match to Australia by three wickets.
India scored 154 runs while batting first, with skipper Kaur leading the way with 52 runs and Shafali Verma adding 48 runs to her total. Despite Renuka Singh's 4/18 spell, Australia still won by three wickets with one over remaining.
On the other hand, Pakistan Women are ranked fourth in Group A after losing their opening match by 15 runs to Barbados Women. While batting first, Barbados Women scored 144 runs, but Pakistan was unable to surpass the target and ended up with just 129/6.
Fatima Sana took two wickets for Pakistan, and Nida Dar scored an unbroken 50 runs in just 31 balls.
Sunday's match, thus, will be a do-or-die situation for both teams if they want to keep alive their hopes in the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Where and When
India will start as a favorite against Pakistan. This will be an emotional match as these familiar friends meet each other once again, and this time on a much bigger stage like the Commonwealth Games. Pakistan Women have won just one T20I match against India in the last five meetings.
The India Women vs Pakistan Women T20 match will be played on Sunday, July 31 at 03:30 PM IST, $4:00 PM PST, and 11:00 AM local time.
The Commonwealth Games match between India Women and Australia Women will be played at the Edgbaston.
How to Livestream
The India Women vs Pakistan Women match will be broadcast live on Sony Sports Network in India. SONY Ten 1, SONY TEN 3 & SONY TEN 4 channels will telecast this match live.
Fans can live stream the India Women and Pakistan Women match on the SonyLIV app and website.
Pitch Report
The ground at Edgbaston is evenly suited for both batters and bowlers in T20 matches. Given the paucity of excellent pace bowlers on both teams, batsmen are likely to receive a lot of assistance on this wicket.
Probable Playing XI
India Women: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Harleen Deol, Radha Yadav, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh.
Pakistan Women: Muneeba Ali (wk), Iram Javed, Omaima Sohail, Bismah Maroof (c), Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Fatima Sana, Diana Baig, Anam Amin, Tuba Hassan.
