India start Women’s T20 World Cup in style as Deepti makes short work of Pakistan | Women’s T20 World Cup 2026

It was a familiar World Cup story: India met Pakistan, and for all the history talk, handshakes and millions of eyes, the match was decided with little drama by the team in blue. Smriti Mandhana started with a 68 off 44 balls before Deepti Sharma cleaned it up in the second over, taking five for 10 as Harmanpreet Kaur’s side started the tournament with a 64-run win in Birmingham.

Pakistan started well with both bat and ball. Chasing 171, they finished on the power play with 52 for one, with Muniba Ali finding some flow. But Deepti, the player of the tournament in last year’s ODI World Cup, was able to build points with her breaks and the threat of an upset soon diminished. Pakistan struggled to launch the spin, routinely finding fielders at covers as they fell to 79 for six inside 13 overs. Dipti escaped the crease too, with Muniba run out with a direct knock for 41 as Pakistan fell to their fourth successive Twenty20 defeat to India.

This has been a strong enough start for the over-50 world champions, here to make the right move in the shorter version. India has the support of the Women’s Super League, a domestic tournament that pays money to the best players on the planet. Pakistan, on the other hand, has never progressed through the group stage of the T20 World Cup, and the noise from its board about starting a women’s franchise a few years ago has died down. This heated rivalry is also a major mismatch.

Of course, there was a political advantage to contend with as well; This was not an ideal idea for anyone trying to escape the issues of the FIFA World Cup. Harmanpreet, India’s captain, was asked during the preparations whether there would be handshakes between the two sides. It was a reference dating back to last year’s Asia Cup, when the men’s T20 team – captained by Suryakumar Yadav – refused any niceties to their opponents following the armed conflict between the two countries earlier in the year. Notice more of the same between Harmanpreet and her counterpart Fatima Sana in the 50-over World Cup finals eight months ago.

“We are here for cricket, and we only talk about cricket,” Harmanpreet said on Saturday, but the toss was always going to be closely watched: frustratingly there was no handshake with Sana after she chose to bat first and none between those in the middle after the last wicket. Harmanpreet knows this is no ordinary game of cricket.

The match was a follow-up to the Netherlands’ first ever match in the Women’s T20 World Cup, a tight encounter with Bangladesh that was decided in the final over – a contest that deserved better than the 10.30am kick-off.

The crowd then filed into the headlines, where Edgbaston was overwhelmingly more blue than green. International Cricket game The board celebrated an attendance figure of 18,814, surpassing the opening match of the tournament between England and Sri Lanka at the same stadium on Friday.

It was Pakistan who had the better of the first few overs. Shafali Verma fired a six off the first ball but it disappeared just moments later, undone by Sadia Iqbal’s bounce. Jemima Rodrigues made just one more before departing by hacking away her seventh delivery, leaving India 18 for two.

Two giants of Indian football, some of the best run-scorers in this format, were ready to rebuild. Mandhana and Harmanpreet compiled a stand of 91 inside 11 overs, the former dazzling when she was airborne for offside. She should have reached the 27th over when she made way for the left-arm quick Tasmee Rabab, but Aliya Riaz, who dropped from mid-off, failed to hold on. The same shot from the same shooter flew for six minutes after that.

Mandhana blazed away for a half-century off 34 balls and another drop ensued at deep midwicket, with Pakistan threatening to explode as the crowd got louder, and Indian flags worked overtime. “It didn’t feel like we were playing in the UK to be quite honest,” said Deepti, who had the best numbers of her career in T20i. “The fans are cheering us on and it feels like home.”

There was a respite for Pakistan after Sana swept in for a good long-on catch to end Mandhana’s knock, and Harmanpreet fell to the 24-year-old Pakistan captain for 36. But Richa Ghosh gave India a brilliant finish with a 17-ball 34, taking 18 off Rubab’s last four deliveries. No one has come close to a similar show of force from Pakistan.