India began their ICC Women's World Cup 2022 campaign on the right note by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by 107 runs at Mount Maunganui. With this victory, India kept its unbeaten record in ODIs against Pakistan intact, winning all 11 matches.

It wasn't a straight-forward result though for the Indian team after captain Mithali Raj won the toss and opted to bat first. Smriti Mandhana scored 52 in a second-wicket partnership of 92 with Deepti Sharma (40) after Shafali Verma fell for a duck, but then India lost 5 wickets for 18 runs to be reduced to 114/6 in the 34th over.

Sneh Rana (53*) and Pooja Vastrakar (67) added a magnificent stand of 122 runs for the seventh wicket to help the team finish with 244/7 in its 50 overs, a sizeable total after the collapse.

Pakistan's reply was never a challenging one as they crashed to 137 all out in 43 overs with only Sidra Ameen (30) and Diana Baig (24) going past the 20-run mark. Rajeshwari Gayakwad (4/31) starred with the ball, while Jhulan Goswami (2/26) and Sneh Rana (2/27) also bowled fantastically well to help India seal a big 107-run win.

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After the match, the Indian players were seen mixing with the Pakistani players and in particular captain Bismah Maroof and her 7-month-old daughter Fatima, whom she brought to the ground for her first match after giving birth.

The Indian women were seen showing affection towards Fatima as they played with her and posed for selfies, while her mother held her in her arms.

Bismah had earlier spoken about what it's like to have her baby girl in the Pakistan dressing room. “A child needs the mother. If I had to continue my career, the question would have been – where would my kid go? And if I'm on the field, who will take care of the kid? Hiring a nanny and taking her along everywhere is expensive, and as women cricketers, we don't earn as much to afford such luxuries. Our contracts help us survive and make a living, but without a parental policy, it would've become difficult to continue playing with a child around,” Maroof told Cricbuzz.

“With a kid around, it's a different energy in the team, everyone feels relaxed. When you're too focussed on one thing, it builds pressure on you. When you're around a kid, all your unnecessary worries disappear,” she said.