India women crush Pakistan in Colombo to complete ODI dozen

Kranti Goud was the destructor-in-chief on a sluggish Colombo surface, delivering a spell that broke Pakistan's spine.

- Samreen Razzaqui

India players celebrate the fall of a Pakistan wicket in Colombo on Sunday.

(AFP)

With figures of 3/20, the seamer allowed no batter to settle. On a day when runs were hard to come by and the R Premadasa Stadium pitch demanded precision with the ball, Goud provided exactly that.

India walked into their second World Cup game having never lost to Pakistan in ODIs — 11 wins out of 11 - and left with that record bettered. The huge 88-run win - their second win of the tournament - also made it five straight wins over Pakistan in Women's World Cups, the joint-most defeats Pakistan have suffered against any opponent in the tournament.

As a result, India climbed to the top of the table with a massive boost to their net run rate. India overcame their batting wobble to score 247 before dismissing Pakistan for 159 in 43 overs.

"It wasn't easy to bat on, we wanted to bat long and see how much we got," said captain Harmanpreet Kaur. "We wanted to keep wickets in hand, and Richa then gave us 30 (35*) crucial runs. Right now, I'm happy we won. Just want to go with the momentum when we go back to India."