Follow UsAfter the shocking and embarrassing defeat at the hands of New Zealand, India had to make a strong comeback against Pakistan. On October 6, when they reduced the fellow Asian side to 105/8, it felt like India were going to motor past the total with ease.
But that’s where the Pakistan bowlers put on a top display in the powerplay, led by their skipper Fatima Sana. The pacer was on point in her opening spell, where she constantly got the ball to talk, troubling Shafali Verma. Sadiqa Iqbal, Nida Dar and Omaima Sohail, too, applied a lot of pressure to leave India with an embarrassing record.
Barring the five wides, what Pakistan did brilliantly was that they didn’t concede a single boundary to the normal ‘attacking’ opening partnership. The pressure that was applied ultimately ended up making Smriti Mandhana chip the ball straight to point, as they finished the powerplay with just 25 runs on the board.
Coincidentally, the last time India went an entire powerplay without a boundary was against Pakistan in 2016, when they scored seven in the entire powerplay at home in Delhi. However, India are not the only team to suffer a boundary-less powerplay fate, with the list also including behemoths like Australia.
Instances of boundary-less powerplay in ICC WT20 World Cup
SAW vs SLW, Galle, 2012
INDW vs PAKW, Delhi, 2016*
AUSW vs NZW, Nagpur, 2016
SLW vs SAW, St Lucia, 2018
BANW vs SAW, St Lucia, 2018
PAKW vs WIW, Paarl, 2023
INDW vs PAKW, Dubai, 2024*
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