REVELLING in the party atmosphere created by a healthy crowd at Edgbaston, India crushed rivals Pakistan to get their Commonwealth Games T20 campaign back on track.

Taking advantage of the rare opportunity to go up against their neighbours, India opener Smriti Mandhana put on a show with a dazzling unbeaten 63 off 42 balls, as they chased down Pakistan’s meagre total of 99 inside 12 overs for the loss of two wickets.

But the festive nature of the match also highlighted the unfortunate nature of the strained sporting relationship between the two nations, which doesn’t seem to extend to the players or the fans as they happily mingled together.

It takes an event like the Commonwealth Games to bring the two rivals together on a cricket field, with the teams having never engaged in a bilateral women’s series.
Even the men’s teams now only clash when they meet in tournament play.

Sunday’s game between the two women’s sides was just the second time they have met in any format since 2018, following their clash at the one-day World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year.

“Whenever we get that opportunity to play against Pakistan we always want to do well and I’m really happy with the way we performed today,” Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said.

“Whenever we get a crowd like this we always get very motivated, getting that kind of crowd is always our dream and now the last couple of years we are getting that support from the crowd.”

While there was good smattering of Pakistani fans, they were outnumbered by the vocal Indians, who had plenty to cheer abo
“Whenever we play we have good support, definitely India-Pakistan matches, the numbers are even more,” Mandhana said.

“Whenever we play we feel at home so definitely I was expecting them to come out in huge numbers.”

After early drizzle reduced the match to an 18-over affair, Pakistan’s total of 99 looked light on, with opener Muneeba Ali the only one to offer any real resistance with 32 off 30 balls.

And so it proved as India powered to a vital eight-wicket win following their first-up loss to Australia.

Mandhana launched the second of her three sixes well over the rope to bring up her half century off 31 balls, her onslaught finishing with a pull to the boundary. (AAP),