Birmingham [UK], June 14 : Pakistan Women's captain Fatima Sana rued "dissapointing" batting and poor fielding as they faced a 64-run defeat against India in their Women's T20 World Cup 2026 opening match on Sunday at Edgebaston.
India produced a dominant all-round performance to defeat Pakistan. Batting first, India recovered from an early collapse through a strong 68 from Smriti Mandhana and 36 from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, while Richa Ghosh's quick 34 helped them reach 170/6. Pakistan briefly fought back with early wickets but lost control in the middle overs.
In reply, Pakistan were bowled out for 106 in 17 overs as Deepti Sharma delivered a match-winning spell of 5/10, dismantling the chase with crucial breakthroughs and a late burst of wickets. India's spinners dominated, taking nine wickets collectively to seal a comprehensive victory.
After the match, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said her team's batting performance was disappointing and acknowledged the need to improve in the upcoming matches. She noted that Pakistan were in control for much of the first innings but let things slip in the final overs by conceding extra runs, adding that the team will look to correct these mistakes going forward in the tournament.
"I think it's really disappointing (on the batting side). We need to step up in the next matches because we still have a long way to go in the World Cup. (On what went wrong in the field) I think we were good until the last 15 overs. After that, we gave away some extra runs. We'll try to improve on those things in the next matches," she said at the post-match presentation.
Sana also said that Pakistan's fielding let them down, saying dropped catches proved costly. She added that the team must improve both bowling and fielding in the next match, as such mistakes can decide the outcome of games.
Notably, Mandhana, who ended up smacking a 44-ball 68 was dropped twice, first by Aliya Riaz when she was batting on 27 and then by Saira Jabeen when she was on the score of 55.
"(On fielding) Obviously, catches win matches. Unfortunately, we dropped catches. I think we need to improve both our bowling and fielding in the next match, as mistakes in the field can cost the match," Sana said.