Cricket

"Smriti Mandhana is Box Office": Twitter Hails Smriti Mandhana as India beat Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games 2022

India defeated Pakistan by 8 wickets in their second match at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. Smriti Mandhana scored 63(42).

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Daniel S
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"Smriti Mandhana is Box Office": Twitter Hails Smriti Mandhana as India beat Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games 2022

Smriti Mandhana (Source: Twitter)

The much-awaited clash between India and Pakistan in Commonwealth Games got underway on Sunday at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. Both India and Pakistan came into the match having lost their previous encounters against Barbados and Australia respectively.  Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof won the toss and decided to bat first in the rain-curtailed game.

Indian bowlers had a brilliant start to the match as they started with a maiden. Pakistan openers succumbed to pressure as Iram Javed got dismissed by Meghna Singh in the second over. Captain Maroof came to the crease and stabilised the innings by building a fifty-run stand with Muneeba Ali.

After the solid partnership, Pakistan completely lost their way as they began losing wickets in quick succession. The Indian bowlers were relentless and didn’t give Pakistan any chance to come back in the game. Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav picked up 2-2 wickets each. Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh and Shafali Verma also picked up one wicket each as Pakistan failed to reach even 100-run-mark and got bundled out for 99 in the allotted 18 overs.

The Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana started the Indian chase in grand fashion as they put their fearless strokeplay on display. The openers smashed the Pakistan bowlers all around the ground and crushed whatever hopes they had left of winning the match. They added 61 runs for the first wicket in just 5.5 overs. The partnership was finally broken as Verma was dismissed by Tuba Hassan.

After her dismissal, Mandhana continued to attack from the other end and brought up her half-century as she sent a ball from Tuba Hassan into the stands. Pakistan picked up another wicket on the score of 94 after 10.4 overs as Sabbhineni Meghanab was bowled by Omaima Sohail. But it was all too late for Pakistan as India thrashed them by 8 wickets with 38 balls to spare. With this win, India climbed to the top of Group  A as they had a better net run rate than Australia and Barbados. Pakistan are ranked last having lost both their matches.

Here's how Twitter reacted to India’s resounding victory over the arch-rivals:

 

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