India cruised to an eight-wicket win over fierce rivals Pakistan in their Commonwealth Games cricket match, after a record number of people bought tickets to watch the women’s T20 cricket competition at Edgbaston.
After opener Smriti Mandhana struck 63 off 42 balls as India chased down Pakistan's total of 99 with 38 balls to spare, Pakistan, who were no match for India's bowling attack, were dismissed with the final ball of their innings, which had been reduced to 18 overs because of rain. India spinner Sneh Rana starred, taking 2-15 in the Group A match.
The win saw India bounce back from an opening Pool A defeat by Australia and now they can reach the semi-finals with a victory over Barbados in their final group stage match on Wednesday. World champions Australia became the first side to reach the semi-finals with a a nine-wicket win over the Caribbean side.
After bowling Barbados out for 64, where Hayley Matthews was the only batter to reach double figures, the favourites needed just 49 balls to reach their target. Captain Meg Lanning hit an unbeaten 36, aided by 23 from Alyssa Healy, as Beth Mooney's wicket was the only one to fall.
A record number of people have bought tickets to watch the women’s T20 cricket competition at Birmingham 2022.
So far, over 150,000 tickets have been sold, beating the previous record of 136,549, which was set at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.
Eight more group round matches are taking place from today (31 July) through to Thursday (4 August), with England taking on South Africa on Tuesday and Australia up against Pakistan on Wednesday, before the semi-final matches at 11am and 6pm on Saturday 6 August.
The Bronze Medal match then kicks off at 10am on Sunday 7 August, before the final Gold Medal Match at 5pm the same day. Limited tickets for both the group stages and finals are still available.
