Arch-rivals India and Pakistan clash on Sunday in a much-anticipated group match at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 in Cape Town.
Here’s a look at five memorable T20 matches between the two cricket powerhouses:
Roy special
Indian spinner Priyanka Roy played a huge part in the team’s first-ever T20 match against Pakistan with match-winning figures of 5/16 and three catches in the 2009 World Cup.
Roy’s leg-spin proved too hot to handle for the Pakistan batters who were dismissed for a paltry 75, a total India eclipsed with five wickets and 14 balls to spare.
Roy played just 15 T20 matches for India with her last game in 2011, but the bowling effort remained a highlight of her white-ball career.
Solid Raut
Top-order batter Punam Raut’s gritty 25 made the difference for eventual winners India in 2012’s low-scoring final of the Asia Cup in China.
A 32-run partnership between Raut and Harmanpreet Kaur, who made 20, guided India to 81 all out in 20 overs after Pakistan skipper Sana Mir returned figures of 4/13.
In reply, Pakistan were bowled out for 63 in 19.1 to suffer their second loss to India in the tournament.
Mandhana power
Star batter Smriti Mandhana hammered a match-winning 63 not out in India’s opening win against Pakistan at T20 cricket’s 2022 Commonwealth Games debut.
India’s bowlers set up victory after they dismissed Pakistan for 99, a total the Indian batters surpassed in 11.4 overs, with the left-handed Mandhana hitting three sixes in her 42-ball knock.
The win paved the way for India’s entry into the final where they lost the gold to Australia, but Mandhana remained in the top three run-scorers of the competition with an average of just under 40.
Spin force
Pakistan women recorded their first-ever T20 win over their neighbours at the 2012 World Cup when Nida Dar spun them to a narrow one-run win with figures of 3/12.
Batting first, Pakistan could only muster 98-9 in 20 overs, skipper Sana Mir top-scoring with 26 against a disciplined opposition bowling.
Dar, an off-spinner, then led Pakistan’s spin charge alongside Bismah Maroof to choke India to 97/8 in Galle.
All-round Nida
Dar again took the mantle of wrecker-in-chief when she single-handedly demolished India with an unbeaten 56 and 2/23 in the most recent meeting between the two teams.
Pakistan rode on Dar’s 37-ball knock to post 137/6 after they elected to bat first in a group match of last year’s Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
Dar worked with fellow spinners including Nashra Sandhu (3/30) to dismiss India for 124 in a 13-run victory, winning player of the match.
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