Women's Asia Cup T20 2024: Defending champions India meet Pakistan
The 2024 Women's Asia Cup T20 will be underway on July 19 with a total of eight teams taking part. India, the most successful side in the competition's history, will start as defending champions. The Women in Blue will kick-start their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Match 2 in Dambulla on July 19. Here we present the match preview.
Venue, pitch report and streaming details
The Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium will host the entirety of the 2024 Women's Asia Cup T20. The venue offers a batting-friendly pitch but bowlers will be in action if they mix up their pace. 159 is the average first innings score here. Star Sports Network will telecast the match while fans can live-stream it on Disney+Hotstar from 7:00pm IST.
Here's the head-to-head record (T20 Asia Cup)
Between 2012 and 2022, India and Pakistan have met six times in the Women's Asia Cup T20. The Indian women have emerged victorious on five occasions, with Pakistan's only win coming in 2022. Notably, India have won four of those matches under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur. Mithali Raj led India to a win against Pakistan in the 2012 edition.
Overall head-to-head record in WT20Is
India and Pakistan have overall clashed in 14 WT20Is between 2009 and 2023. India have a massive 11-3 lead over Pakistan, as far as the head-to-head record is concerned. Notably, seven of India's wins have come under Harmanpreet. Meanwhile, the Women in Blue defeated Pakistan in four of their last five meetings in the format.
Here are the playing XIs
India (Probable XI): Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), S Sajana, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh, Radha Yadav. Pakistan (Probable XI): Sidra Ameen, Iram Javed, Gull Feroza, Tuba Hassan, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nida Dar (c), Aliya Riaz, Fatima Sana, Diana Baig, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal.
A look at star performers
With 489, Harmanpreet is the second-leading run-getter in the tournament's history. Pakistan skipper Nida Dar owns 376 runs at the event at 32. She is also the leading wicket-taker of the event with 31 scalps. With 13 wickets, Deepti Sharma was the joint-highest wicket-taker of the 2022 edition. Omaima Sohail also took 10 wickets in that tourney.
