DELHI: Pakistan defeated India by 2 runs in a riveting contest which was decided on DL method.

Sana Mir’s side were 77/6, requiring 20 runs off 24 balls before heavy showers stopped play. Pakistan, who were rattled by India with three wickets in 10 balls, were 2 runs ahead on DL method and persistent rain meant they ended up on the winning side after the cut-off time.

In the chase of 97, Pakistan were cruising at 48/2 in 9 overs after Sidra Ameen’s run-a-ball 26 before India staged a comeback. Muneeba Ali and Iram Javed then combined in a 21-run partnership to ensure Pakistan were ahead on DL method.

Earlier, Pakistan restricted arch-rivals India to 96 runs in the ICC Women’s World T20 group match played at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Saturday.

Sana Mir, the Pakistan skipper, opted to bowl first after winning the toss and tried out six bowlers, out of which five took a wicket each while there were two run outs as India finished on 97/7.

Anam Amin, who was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, strangled the Indians, bowling with an economy rate of 2.25 runs per over and bagging opener Vellaswamy Vanitha’s important wicket.

Pakistan started off with a bang as India lost two wickets for just five runs in the space of just four overs.

The hosts brought things back in control as Harmanpreet Kaur and captain Mithali Raj put up a steady 29 run partnership which went on till the 12th over before Nida Dar broke it.

Later, Veda Krishnamurthy’s (24 off 19) and Jhulan Goswami (14 off 14) played some big strokes to help India recover from a bad start.