Despite change in format and gender, the India-Pakistan clash once again ended as a one-sided contest. The much-hyped clash between the arch-rivals in the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 was one-way traffic as India thumped Pakistan by 88 runs in Colombo on Sunday (October 5). It was India's 12th win out of 12 games against Pakistan across formats in women's World Cup history.
Put into bat, India's batting effort was far from satisfactory but a late surge from Richa Ghosh got them to 247, which was a par total for this pitch. In response, Pakistan never really got themselves in the game despite a valiant 81 from Sidra Amin and her 69-run stand with Natalia Pervaiz (33). The duo did their best to keep Pakistan in the hunt but were not able to keep the required rate in check.
India's new-ball bowlers made tremendous use of favourable conditions under lights by getting prodigious swing in the first ten overs. Pakistan's batters tried to counter it with intent but lacked a clear game plan on tackling the movement on offer. As a result, they were reduced to 26/3 by the 12th over. It could have been worse had India chosen to review one of three obvious LBW shouts that were turned down by the umpire.
There was also a dropped catch by Richa Ghosh as Pakistan got that bit of luck early on in the chase. As the ball got softer, Amin and Pervaiz managed to score a bit more freely. However, neither of them were able to dominate India's bowlers and it meant that Pakistan were always playing catch up in the chase. Eventually, the pressure got to Pervaiz who took a wrong option against the impressive Kranti Goud.
It was Goud who had tormented Pakistan with the new ball as well and she had an outstanding spell, returning figures of 3-20 from her ten overs. The off-spin duo of Deepti Sharma (3-45) and Sneh Rana (2-38) were the other bowlers who did the damage as India's bowlers put the squeeze on the Pakistan batting. If not for the Amin-Pervaiz partnership, the margin of defeat could have been embarrassing.
Earlier on, India's batting effort was about batters getting starts but failing to carry on in their innings. Most of them struggled to maintain a high tempo on what was a slow surface with some help for the bowlers. Harleen Deol's 65-ball 46 and Pratika Rawal's 37-ball 32 gave India early impetus but with the ball getting softer, the dry surface was hard to score off in the afternoon.
Pakistan's bowlers stuck to their guns and ensured that India's batters didn't run away with the game even when wickets weren't falling. It was Jemimah Rodrigues (32 off 37) and Deepti Sharma (25 off 33) who propped things up in the middle overs but their dismissals opened the floodgates for Pakistan. At 203/7, India were in danger of being bowled out for an under-par total.
However, like she has done so often in recent times, Richa stepped up with a cracking 20-ball 35 to power India towards a par total with the help of the lower order. The late onslaught took Pakistan by surprise and gave India the momentum going into the break. From there on, Pakistan barely contested in the game as India completed a comfortable victory.