The big picture – batting depth testing
To be fair, Mandhana and Shafali Verma also batted at the best stage of the match. On the evidence from the first seven matches, the new ball is coming into bat well before the bowlers take over. Even so, the gulf between India’s openers and the rest tells a story: Mandhana has 143, Shafali 92 and the next best is Pratika Rawal with 32. India wants to iron out the wrinkles in its middle order before reaching crisis phase.
If Pakistan can replicate the same performance against India in Dubai on Saturday night, it could put them on course for only their second win over their arch rivals in the Asia Cup T20.
Form guide
India WWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWLLW
In the spotlight – Prema Rawat and Nushra Sandhu
Team news
Both teams have close to ideal combinations for the conditions in Dubai. So expect them to play with the same lineup, barring any injuries.
India (Possible): 1 Smriti Mandanna, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Pratika Rawal, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Bharti Phulmali, 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Prema Rawat, 9 Kranti Goud, 10 N Shri Sharani, 11 Nandani Sharma
Pakistan (probable): 1 Muneeba Ali (wk), 2 Shawaal Zulfiqar, 3 Gull Feroza, 4 Ayesha Zafar, 5 Sadaf Shamas, 6 Fatima Sana (capt), 7 Umm-e-Hani, 8 Eyman Fatima, 9 Tuba Hassan, 10 Nashra Sandhu, 11 Sadia Iqbal
Pitch and conditions
Teams winning the toss in the Asia Cup have opted for this chase in six of the first seven matches, with Sri Lanka winning only after restricting the UAE to 78. The general pattern has been of teams batting first with a strong start, then slowing down towards the end. Only India have posted a total of over 150 in this tournament. The spinners had more success (71 wickets, economy 5.1) than the fast ones (31 wickets, economy 6.18). Therefore, the captain who wins the toss may have a tough choice to make on Saturday.
Evenings in Dubai were so hot and humid that Mandana called them a “steambox.” Saturday evening is expected to be similar with temperatures reaching 37 degrees at start time with the temperature expected to drop only slightly after that.
Stats and trivia
- This match will be for Harmanpreet Kaur No. 150 T20I as captain. No other man or woman has captained so many T20Is.
- Smriti Mandhana is 78 away from surpassing Suzie Bates (4758) for most T20I innings.
- Muniba Ali is two matches away from becoming the sixth Pakistani woman to play 100 T20Is. She is also 31 runs away from scoring the most T20I runs for Pakistan in a calendar year.
- India have lost only once to Pakistan in the Asia Cup T20 in seven meetings – in Sylhet in 2022.
quotes
“Sharani is a very good talent. She is at number one as well. Last year, she performed well. The way she runs the ball is unbelievable. It is not easy for any batsman to play that.”
India inclusive Deepti Sharma Heaps of praise for N Shree Charani
“Field work is the aspect we have focused on deeply. Our teacher [Wahab Riaz] He also told us that there should be no compromise on our field standards. [Good] “The play can win you games and hopefully we don’t drop any catches and play well in the game.”
Pakistani mixture Aisha Zafar
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at Cricinfo. @sudarshanan7
