Watch: Pakistan and India players share smiles and hugs after opening game of Women’s 20-20 World Cup

India, in their first encounter of the Women’s 20-20 World Cup 2023, beat arch-rival Pakistan by seven wickets at Newlands. In the nail-biting clash, star India batter Jemimah Rodrigues hammered a brilliant half-century and led India to a comfortable win. However, after the match, a brilliant comradery between the players of both teams was witnessed.

A video shared by Cricket Pakistan showcasing the bond between the players is going viral on social media. In the video players can be seen hugging, talking, clicking selfies, and more. In the video senior Pakistan player, Ayesha Naseem congratulated the Indian team and said “well done” to young India batter Richa Ghosh. Notably, Richa played an electrifying inning of 31 runs off 20 balls at a strike rate of 155.

Here is the video

Players' interactions after the #INDvPAK match at Newlands 🇵🇰🇮🇳#BackOurGirls | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Yc4YcKxV2v

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) February 13, 2023

Jemimah Rodrigues clinched a nail-biting game for India

Talking about the match, Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof won the toss and chose to bat first. After early strikes of Indian bowlers, the Pakistan skipper scored a brilliant half-century and helped her team to post a competitive total of 150 runs. Maroof scored 68 runs off 55 bowls with the help of seven 4s. Pacer Radha Yadav took two wickets while allrounder Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma got one wicket each.

In the absence of opener Smriti Mandhana, it was clear that the chase will not be a cakewalk for the Indians. In absence of Mandhana Yashika Bhatiya opened the innings with Shafali Verma both batted calmly and added 38 runs for the first wicket. However, after that India failed to match the required run rate and needed almost 10 runs an over when Richa Ghosh joined Jemimah Rodrigues in the 14th over but the pair were seldom troubled. The pair added unbeaten 58 runs off 33 balls and led India to the winning side.

India will play their second match against West Indies in Cape Town on February 15. The team will also receive the services of Vice-captain Smriti Mandhana who is suffering from a finger injury and missed the first match for Women in Blue.