'Pak feeling no pressure of facing India'

Pakistan hope to continue their victorious start to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 as they head into their grudge match with India in Dubai.

Fatima Sana guided her side to a 31-run victory over Sri Lanka in their opening Group A game and will now look to make it back-to-back wins against an India side who lost out to New Zealand in their opening game on Friday.

"There is no such pressure," Fatima said. "Because there will be a crowd and the atmosphere will be like this, there will be a little pressure on the girls.

"But we will try to be calm and not take much pressure. When we take pressure, it doesn't go in our favour.

"We will try to be calm and handle the situation as well as we can."

Aged just 22, Fatima is leading Pakistan in a World Cup for the first time, and another first will come as she skippers her side against India in one of the most anticipated matches of the tournament.

She showed no nerves against Sri Lanka with her impressive 30 from 20 balls helping propel Pakistan to 116, which they duly defended.

The all-rounder also had to bring herself on to bowl early after an injury to seamer Diana Baig, who is expected to be fit for the clash on Sunday.

And while the bowlers will play their part, Fatima is keen to show the world how Pakistan have developed in their batting.

She added: "If you look at the last series against South Africa, a lot of our girls have improved in power hitting.

"In that series, our team hit six sixes in one match. After that, we scored eight sixes.

"It's a good thing that all the girls are confident in this. Personally, I used to bat a lot before, but I didn't know if I could hit or not.

"But with that belief now, it's become a lot easier."

For India, the match against Pakistan must act as a reset after a 58-run loss to New Zealand.

Bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi believes the defeat to the White Ferns is already behind them and that there will be no big change in approach.

He said: "On Friday, whatever happened, Sunday is a fresh opportunity for us.

"So obviously girls have gone through the process, they have gone through the grind, they have gone through this before as well.

"We only tell them to stay strong, stay united and just believe in our abilities, believe in your plans, and get back to it.

"It's basically just believe in your processes, what has worked for you so far.

"And for the bowling unit, obviously, they need to stay strong, stay united and stay focused on the next challenges that they will face.

"At the same time, whatever they have been following so far, what's been working well for them, they just go with that."

New Zealand beat India in Women's T20 WC

New Zealand delivered in every facet of the game as they defeated India by 58 runs at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024.

Sophie Devine steered New Zealand both as skipper and with the bat, making 57 not out to help the White Ferns set India an imperious 161 to win.

In reply, India struggled to keep pace, too often picking the wrong shots to gift New Zealand wickets and their first win in 11 T20 internationals.

Suzie Bates set the tone and began the innings with a four and she and Georgia Plimmer motored to 55 without loss in the powerplay.

The White Ferns kept scoring quickly until Bates departed for 27 from 24 balls and Plimmer (34) followed three balls later to leave New Zealand at 67 for two and with two new batters at the crease.

From there, the scoring picked up again, with Devine leading the charge while ably supported by Brooke Halliday and then Maddy Green.

New Zealand took 37 runs off the final three overs to reach 160 for four at the innings break.

In response, India made 11 off the first over before Shafali Verma departed for two with Smriti Mandhana and Kaur also falling in the powerplay, as off-spinner Eden Carson claimed two wickets.

First Ghosh and then Arundhati Reddy sent easy catches to fielders as India fell to 75 for six in the 13th over.

It was a similar story for Sharma, who added 13 runs to the total before Devine took a simple catch at mid-off to hand Lea Tahuhu her third wicket. Rosemary Mair took four wickets in total as India's chase petered out in the penultimate over.