Deepti, Mandhana script India's emphatic win over Pakistan

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

Mandhana, alongside Harmanpreet Kaur, revived India's innings after a wobbly start before Ghosh's late blitz – 34 in just 17 deliveries – propelled the team to a strong finish on 170. Pakistan began brightly but lost steam in the middle overs with Deepti claiming five to end a lean patch with the ball.

Opting to bat first on a friendly pitch, India's innings began in disastrous fashion. Shafali Verma smashed a massive six off the very first ball but fell in that same opening over. Jemimah Rodrigues managed just one run off seven deliveries and became Tasmia Rubab's maiden T20I wicket. With India reeling, vice-captain Mandhana found her rhythm soon enough to turn things around.

Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur put together a vital 91-run partnership for the third wicket. Mandhana reached a brilliant fifty off just 34 deliveries, earning two crucial reprieves and making Pakistan pay dearly. She struck a boundary off Rameen Shamim and followed with a towering six to welcome spinner Sadia Iqbal back into the attack. Harmanpreet joined the onslaught by hitting the world's No. 1 T20I bowler for back-to-back boundaries, plundering 19 runs from the 13th over and pushing past the 100-run mark.

Pakistan finally broke through when Rameen dismissed Mandhana off the final ball of her spell. Bharati Fulmali, on World Cup debut, was in and out quickly, and Harmanpreet fell for a 35-ball 36 to her counterpart Fatima Sana.

Enter Richa Ghosh. Batting initially on 10 off 9 balls, she fed mercilessly on Rubab's inexperience in the penultimate over, smashing 4, 6, 4, 4. That explosive 23-run 19th over propelled India past the 150-mark. Ghosh was finally bowled for a sensational 34 at a strike-rate of 200, setting up India's match-winning total of 170.

Muneeba Ali got Pakistan's chase off to a solid start, smashing boundaries after being dropped early. Deepti broke the opening stand by dismissing Gull Feroza, who reverse-swept straight to backward point. Ayesha Zafar struck back-to-back boundaries off Arundhati Reddy, guiding Pakistan to 52/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

However, momentum shifted completely. Deepti struck again when Zafar found a diving Mandhana to fall for 12. Left-arm spinner Sree Charani removed Saira Jabeen cheaply. Though Muneeba broke a boundary drought, her sudden run-out opened the floodgates. Shafali Verma removed Fatima Sana, caught at cover, leaving Pakistan reeling at 77/4.

Sidra Amin fell quickly to become Charani's second victim, followed by Rameen Shamim to cap a brilliant spell of 3/21 from the young spinner. Deepti returned to clean up the tail, completing a sensational five-wicket haul (5/10) – a historic feat that crowned her as the most successful bowler in women's T20I history.

Brief scores: India 170/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 68, Harmanpreet Kaur 36, Richa Ghosh 34; Fatima Sana 2-33) beat Pakistan 106 all out in 17 overs (Muneeba Ali 41; Deepti Sharma 5-10, Sree Charani 3-21) by 64 runs.