Pakistan’s challenge ended in a whimper as Harmanpreet Kaur -led India romped to a seven-wicket win in a Women’s Asia Cup match in Dubai on Saturday. History had offered little comfort to Pakistan coming into Saturday’s clash in the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup, having dropped four consecutive fixtures to their neighbours across formats. Shafali Verma set an explosive tone for the paltry 56-run chase by launching the very first delivery from Sadia Iqbal over long-off for a six. Shafali also became the youngest batter to reach 3,000 runs in women’s T20Is at 22 years and 220 days, as well as the fastest in terms of balls faced (2,182).
The duo took their time before Deepti released the pressure in the seventh over by stepping out to loft left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu over mid-wicket for four. However, captain Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma steadied the chase without further alarms. Pakistan captain Fatima Sana mounted a spirited fightback when she removed Shafali (12) by extracting a soft leading edge, completed via a caught-and-bowled dismissal, before getting Pratika Rawal (4) caught behind.
Instead, India’s lethal spin quartet of N. The quartet proved to be unplayable, as the relentless spin unit consistently deceived the Pakistani batters with flight and forced them into playing loose off-side strokes outside their reach. Yet, as 22 players lined up under oppressive, humid conditions to square off on a fresh pitch offering grip and sharp turn, it seemed set for a battle of attrition. Sree Charani, Prema Rawat , Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma delivered a tactical bowling masterclass to bundle out Pakistan for a paltry 55 and lay the foundation for a seven-wicket victory to sign off from the league stage.
