India's Women's T20 World Cup semifinal hopes in jeopardy despite victory over Pakistan; Mandhana defends slow batting

On a scorching afternoon in Dubai, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana made the bold decision to bat first against India in an effort to apply pressure and secure a strong total on the board. Coming off a thrilling victory against Sri Lanka in their opener, Pakistan aimed to inch closer to the semifinals. However, the Indian bowlers, Arundhati Reddy and Shreyanka Patil, displayed exceptional skill and determination as they combined to take five wickets, ultimately restricting Pakistan to a mere 105 for eight.

For India, the equation was simple, get a win by a huge margin. Why? The team lost by 58 runs against New Zealand, which left them at the bottom of the Group A table with a net run rate of -2.9. However, India put on a sluggish batting performance in the chase, where only 25 runs came in the powerplay at the cost of one wicket, which only improved to 61 for two at one stage in that game, which itself left their chances in the match hanging in the balance.

India eventually won with seven balls to spare, but it served little or no to their NRR cause.

A win by a massive margin could have left India at the third spot in the Group A table, ahead of Pakistan, but behind defending champions Australia and New Zealand. But the sluggish chase saw India's NRR marginally improve to -1.217 which is inferior, compared to Pakistan's -0.555, implying that they now stand in the fourth spot.

India are still not out of the semifinal race, but another poor batting show in their next game against Sri Lanka, at the same venue, on October 9, could dampen their chances despite a victory. A win in that fashion could only leave India in a do-or-die situation against Australia in their final group game. However, a victory in an emphatic fashion could help their cause to an extent, with New Zealand expected to lose against Australia on Tuesday.

Despite a poor batting show, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who filled in for injured captain Harmanpreet Kaur in the post-match presentation, defended the team's ultra-defensive batting approach in a chase of 106.

"Me and Shafali could not time the ball," she was forthright in her admission. We didn't want to end up losing a lot of wickets. We were a little calculative. The NRR is in our head," said Mandhana.