Sree Charani: On a scorching 40-degree evening in Dubai, the anticipation of a fierce India-Pakistan game quickly evaporated into another familiar, stark mismatch. 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.
Yet, as twenty-two 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. Instead, India’s lethal spin quartet of N. Sree Charani, Prema Rawat, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma dished out a tactical bowling masterclass to bundle out Pakistan for a paltry 55 and set the base of a seven-wicket victory to sign off from the league stage.
The quarter proved to be unplayable, as the relentless spin quarter consistently deceived the Pakistani batters with flight and forced them to perish by playing loose, off-side strokes outside their reach.
For Pakistan, barring openers Shawaal Zulfiqar and Muneeba Ali, none of the batters reached double figures, as they went from 27/0 to 55/6, and that insipid batting made the contest a one-sided affair yet again, as India got their fifth consecutive T20I win over the archrivals.
After Pakistan chose to bat first, a decision which surprised many, they were scratchy from the outset before showing some intent. Kranti Gaud’s opening delivery seamed away to beat Muneeba's outside edge, before Shawaal struck consecutive boundaries off her and Nandni Sharma.
Muneeba survived two early dropped chances, both off Pratika Rawal, before off-spinner Shafali provided the breakthrough by castling her for 13.
The wicket triggered a collapse as top-ranked T20I bowler Charani struck twice in the final powerplay over, removing Gull Feroza for a duck and trapping Shawaal lbw for 14. Charani then picked up her third scalp by having Ayesha Zafar caught at mid-on by captain Harmanpreet Kaur, playing her 150th game as India’s captain.
Prema then joined the wicket-takers party by castling Sadaf Shamas, before Deepti Sharma trapped Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana lbw for a duck. Eyman Fatima provided brief resistance by hitting the innings' final boundary off Prema, but a tragic mix-up with Umm-e-Hani saw her run out for five.
Prema came back to dismiss Umm-e-Hani with a top-edged sweep to short fine leg, before catching Nashra Sandhu off her own bowling to finish with figures of 3-9. Charani picked 3-7 from her four overs, thus maintaining her rich vein of form.
By extracting sharp turn, consistent drift, and maintaining impeccable control of length, Charani was at the peak of her power, as Pakistan’s attempts to attack her ended in abject failure, with lobbed catches to the infield.
Deepti wrapped up the innings in the 19th over by deceiving Tuba Hassan in flight, as wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh completed a sharp stumping in a solid day of wicketkeeping, as Pakistan completely unravelled against India’s disciplined spinners.
Shafali Verma set an explosive tone for the paltry 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).
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.
Fatima struck again in her second over by trapping Smriti Mandhana lbw after the opener hit her for a boundary, leaving India at 29/3 in the fourth over. The three-wicket burst made Fatima just the fourth bowler from a full-member nation to take three wickets in the powerplay overs of a women’s T20I twice in her career.
However, captain Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma steadied the chase without further alarms. 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.
Harmanpreet and Deepti carefully made the remaining runs by using soft hands and quick running to keep the scoreboard ticking. Harmanpreet then capped off the win in style in the ninth over - after surviving a chance that just evaded an outstretched Fatima at mid-on for four, she stepped down the pitch to loft Nashra Sandhu cleanly over long-on for a six, as India signed off by dominating Pakistan yet again.
However, captain Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma steadied the chase without further alarms. 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.
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Pakistan 55 all out in 18.1 overs (Shawaal Zulfiqar 14, Muneeba Ali 13; N Sree Charani 3-7, Prema Rawat 3-9) lost to India 57/3 in 8.4 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 18 not out, Shafali Verma 12; Fatima Sana 3-17) by seven wickets