India took 18.5 overs to chase Pakistan's total of 105 in the Group A match.
India opened their winning account in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 with a six-wicket victory over Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (October 6).
Despite the win, the Women in Blue remained below their arch-rivals in Group A at the fourth position, separated by net run rate (NRR), which left former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar "a little disappointed"
Chasing 106 to win, India took 18.5 overs to get over the line and ended up with an NRR of -1.217. On the other hand, Pakistan are at number three with an NRR of +0.555 after registering a win and a loss in their two matches.
Analysing the game on Star Sports, Manjrekar didn’t mince his words as he said India could have been a little more aggressive in their run-chase as they have to catch the table-toppers New Zealand.
"A bittersweet win for India. Winning is very important, but I am a little disappointed because if you see New Zealand's run-rate, it's +2.900, and that's the team India need to catch up with. It will be difficult to catch Australia," Manjrekar said, kind of expecting defending champions Australia to top the group.
The Aussies, with two points and an NRR +1.908 after their win in the opener, are currently at number two while Sri Lanka are languishing at the bottom of the Group A table with two consecutive defeats.
During the chase, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was the only Indian batter who scored runs at a strike rate of above 100.00. She made 29 off 24 balls before walking off retired hurt with a neck injury.
"India did win, but inside Harmanpreet will be feeling that they should have scored a little more briskly and won in a quicker time. It would have benefitted in the long run," Manjrekar remarked.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana acknowledged that their start with the bat could have been better.
"We could have done with a better start with the bat. But we will take this," Mandhana stated.
“We were thinking about it (NRR) but Shafali and I weren't able to time it (the shots) well. So we didn't want to get to a place where we were chasing the game, but NRR is surely in our heads. This game will give us some momentum and hopefully we can keep going in this tournament," she added.
Sharing an update on Harmanpreet, Mandhana said the injury was still being assessed by the medical team and hoped that her teammate would be alright.
“Too soon to say anything, the medics are looking at it. Hopefully she is alright,” she concluded.