India beat Pakistan by 6 wickets in Women's T20 World Cup
Dubai, Oct 6: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's years of experience saved India from blushes as they huffed and puffed to a six wicket win over arch rivals Pakistan, keeping their semi-final hopes alive in the Women's T20 World Cup, here Sunday.
Indian batters made a heavy weather of a paltry 106-run target as it required a 24-ball-29 from their experienced skipper to eke out the crucial win.
Harmanpreet retired hurt when two runs were required for victory. Sajana Sajeevan, playing her first game, finished it off with a boundary.
The defensive approach by opener Shafali Verma (32 off 35 balls) and new No. 3 Jemimah Rodrigues (23 off 28 balls) meant that India could not boost their Net Run Rate which could prove very costly in the larger context of making it to the last-four stage.
Despite the victory, India's NRR is currently -1.217 and they remain below Pakistan, who are in third place with NRR of -0.555.
India would need to beat both Australia and Sri Lanka by comfortable margins to harbour any hopes of a semi-final berth.
The entire Indian innings had only five boundaries and none of the top three looked like getting a move on.
The chase was not exactly a cakewalk as Smriti Mandhana (7 off 16 balls) was out early while Shafali and Jemimah concentrated on taking singles.
The running between the wickets wasn't impressive as some easy doubles and a sure triple was not even tried, probably due to sapping heat. Even as Jemimah showed some interest in pushing fielders, Shafali's poor fitness came in the way.
Despite a negative net run-rate of -2.90, there was no intent shown by the Indian batters to surpass the paltry target in a good time.
Shafali could hit only three shots to the fence in her 35-ball knock and she increased the pressure on the batting unit with the below-par effort.
As far as Jemimah was concerned, power isn't diminutive Mumbaikar's forte as she is more of a batter who relies on timing and ability to find gaps.
Once Fatima removed both Jemimah and Richa Ghosh (0) off successive deliveries, the onus was on Harmanpreet to take the team past home.
Earlier, the Indian bowling unit fired in unison against a clueless Pakistan, restricting the arch-rivals to a lowly 105 for 8.
Having conceded 160 against New Zealand on a slow track under lights in their opener, the Indian bowlers read the pitch well, and more importantly, took the pace off deliveries to make stroke-making all the more difficult.
Such was their control that Indian bowlers were able to deliver 58 dot balls.
Seamers Renuka Singh Thakur (1/23) and Arundhati Reddy (3/19) neither erred in line nor in length while off-spinners Deepti Sharma (1/24) and Shreyanka Patil (2/12) got enough grip and bounce to keep the Pakistani batters on tenterhooks.
Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana (1/24) went for a few boundaries but got rival skipper Fatima with a big leg-break after the batter was brilliantly snapped by Richa Ghosh behind the stumps.
Renuka bowled a tight first over and her inswinger had Gull Feroza (0) bowled through the gate.
Deepti, who gave a much better account of herself, albeit against an inferior batting lineup, decreased the pace of her deliveries and also flighted a few.
Pakistan managed only 29 for 2 in the powerplay and the Indian bowlers increased their stranglehold on the opposition batters with only Nida Dar's 28 providing some resistance to take the team past 100-run mark.
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Rupee starts 2026 on negative note; falls 11 paise to 89.99/ USD in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee started the new year on a negative note and depreciated 11 paise to 89.99 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday weighed down by persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said the rupee entered 2026 with both challenges and cushions, while global uncertainty persists, India’s strong macroeconomic parameters and ample forex reserves provide stability.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.94 against the US dollar, then lost some ground and touched 89.99, registering a fall of 11 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the last trading session of 2025, the rupee settled at 89.88 against the US dollar.
"While the calendar has changed, volatility is likely to persist. Under Governor Sanjay Malhotra, the RBI appears comfortable allowing the rupee to adjust with market forces, while remaining actively present to smooth excessive moves and maintain orderly conditions," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.
Progress on the paused India–US trade deal remains a key upside risk and could deliver a meaningful confidence boost if concluded, Pabari said. "For now, USD/INR is expected to trade in the 89.30–90.20 range in the near term," he said, adding that a sustained break below 89.30 could open the path toward 88.50.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent higher at 98.32.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.78 per cent at USD 60.85 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 194.38 points higher at 85,414.98, while the Nifty was up 47.55 points at 26,177.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,597.38 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
