Deepti, Mandhana star in India's emphatic win over Pakistan

India kicked off their 2026 campaign with a commanding 64-run victory over Pakistan at Edgbaston on Sunday, helped along by Smriti Mandhana's fifth T20 World Cup century, a finishing act from Richa Ghosh, and Deepti Sharma's record-breaking fifer.

India's innings was revived by Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur after a shaky start, and Ghosh's late blitz of 34 runs in just 17 deliveries propelled the team to a strong 170-run victory. Pakistan began brightly, but lost steam in the middle overs with Deepti claiming five to end a lean patch with the ball.

India chose to bat first on a friendly surface, and their innings began disastrously. With a massive six off the very first ball of the game, Shafali Verma attempted to establish an aggressive tone right away. India was initially taken aback by her fall in the opening over, but her fireworks were short-lived. The trouble deepened when Jemimah Rodrigues failed to find any rhythm. She took seven deliveries and only scored one run, taking Tasmia Rubab's first wicket in a Twenty20 International. With India reeling, vice-captain Mandhana at times struggled for fluency at times but found her rythym soon enough to turn things around for India.

Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur put together a crucial 91-run partnership for the third wicket, which helped keep the ship on course. During this rescue act, the India captain played the anchor role, allowing her deputy to take the onus of acceleration. Mandhana took advantage of her rhythm to reach a brilliant fifty in just 34 deliveries. During that time, she got two crucial rest breaks and made Pakistan pay for their mistakes.

Mandhana immediately went into overdrive by shifting gears. She stopped Rameen Shamim with a boundary and hit a towering six to bring spinner Sadia Iqbal back into the game. Right on cue, Harmanpreet joined the assault by hitting the No. One T20I bowler for consecutive boundaries. This allowed India to catch up, plundering 19 runs from the expensive 13th over and pushing past the 100-run mark.

When Rameen hit back with the massive wicket of Mandhana off the final ball of her spell, Pakistan finally made a breakthrough. Bharati Fulmali, on World Cup debut, was in and out in a jiffy, and following a quiet over from Nashra Sandhu, Harmanpreet's anchoring act came to an end without the payoff at the backend. She was dismissed for a 35-ball 36 by her counterpart, Fatima Sana.

Enter Richa Ghosh. Batting initially on 10 off 9 balls, India's experienced finisher officially came to the party in the penultimate over, feeding mercilessly on the inexperience of Rubab who erred in her lines and lengths under pressure, Ghosh took full toll, smashing a breathtaking sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4. That explosive 23-run 19th over single-handedly propelled India past the 150-mark. Before she was finally bowled on the penultimate ball of the innings for a sensational 34 at a strike-rate of 200, Ghosh successfully set up India's match-winning total of 170.

After being dropped early, Muneeba Ali smashed a flurry of boundaries to get Pakistan's chase off to a strong start. India gave the ball to Deepti to halt the run flow. The move paid immediate dividends; after building dot-ball pressure, Deepti broke the opening stand by dismissing Gull Feroza, who reverse-swept straight to backward point. By hitting back-to-back boundaries off Arundhati Reddy, new batter Ayesha Zafar quickly made her intentions clear, leading Pakistan to a healthy 52/1 at the conclusion of the Powerplay.

However, Pakistan lost the plot in the middle overs, and the momentum completely changed. In her second over, Deepti struck again when Zafar found a diving Mandhana and dropped her for 12. Left-arm spinner Sree Charani then joined the party, removing Saira Jabeen cheaply in her first over. Despite the fact that Muneeba broke a boundary drought in order to combat the increasing required rate, her sudden run-out triggered a flood. Shafali Verma struck immediately by removing the dangerous Fatima Sana, who was caught at cover to leave Pakistan reeling at 77/4, the chase looking increasingly improbable.

Sidra Amin, Charani's second victim, fell quickly, and Rameen Shamim, the young spinner's brilliant 3/21 spell, followed shortly after. The collapse got worse. Deepti returned to clean up the tail after Pakistan reached the 100-run mark. She finished with a sensational five-wicket haul (5/10), which made her the most successful bowler in women's T20I history and was a historic achievement.