Bisht fifer guides India to a memorable victory over Pak

On a slow Derby wicket, in a low-scoring encounter, after the Indian team could just manage a below par 169, Indian tweaker Ekta Bisht spun web around the Pakistan batswomen and claimed five wickets for just 18-runs to guide India to a memorable victory by 95-runs.

Indian Batswomen put a below-par performance

After electing to bat first, India lost it’s 20-year-old young sensation Smriti Mandhana (2 off 9) cheaply. Deepti Sharma joined Punam Raut in the middle and the two played over-cautiously to add 67-runs for the second wicket in 115-balls. Once Raut departed on 47 (off 72), a mini-collapse, where India lost Captain Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Mona Meshram, derailed India’s progress. Sushma Verma, Indian wicket-keeper, turned things partially with her fighting 33 off just 35 in the fag end and that ensured a low, yet a fightable total of 169.

The Mastermind Mithali and a Beast Bisht

India had a paltry score on the board and the Indian Captain sensed the situation to do something different to make a come-back in the match. Mansi Joshi, the 23-year-old right arm pacer was included in the team to strengthen the fast bowling department but the Indian Captain opted for spinner Bisht to share the new ball with veteran Jhulan Goswami. What followed at the County Ground in Derby was a mayhem by the 31-year-old left-arm orthodox, Bisht. On the fourth ball of her first over, Bisht scalped her first wicket in Pakistan Opener Ayesha Zafar. She added four more wickets to her tally to match her previous career best figures of 18-5, which also proved to be the best figure by an Indian Bowler in ICC Women’s World Cup.

Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj and a rare off day

Indian Opener Smriti Mandhana, who had been sensational in the World Cup so far, and Skipper Mithali Raj experienced a rare failure and other Indian batswomen couldn’t fill the void on the day, something that will worry the team management. Mandhana, who had scored a blistering 90 off just 72 against hosts England before she went on to register a Century (106 0ff 108) against the West Indies, could just manage two runs before she departed. Mithali, who scored a half-century against England- her seventh consecutive in ODIs- and 46 against Windies, also failed and was undone on just 8. Harmanpreet Kaur, the experienced campaigner, failed too and could just score 10 runs off 23.