Harmanpreet Kaur Becomes Leading Indian Run-Scorer in Women's T20 World Cup

Birmingham. Indian women's cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur has created history by making her name the record for scoring the most runs for India in the Women's T20 World Cup.

By taking the field against traditional rivals Pakistan in her first match of the World Cup in Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK on Sunday, she surpassed the record of former captain Mithali Raj.

With this record-breaking achievement, Harmanpreet's total runs in T20 World Cup history have reached 762, and she has climbed to the top position for India. Earlier, this record was held by Mithali Raj with 726 runs.

In this list for India, Smriti Mandhana is third with 592 runs, Jemimah Rodrigues is fourth with 408 runs, and Punam Raut is fifth with 375 runs. Harmanpreet achieved this success in 34 innings across 40 matches. Through this match, she has also surpassed Australia's Beth Mooney to register her name in the list of the top nine highest run-scorers in Women's T20 World Cup history.

In this exciting World Cup match, India made a happy start by defeating Pakistan by a huge margin of 64 runs. In the match, the Indian team, which chose to bat first after winning the toss, scored a strong total of 170 runs by losing 6 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.

For India, opener Smriti Mandhana played a brilliant half-century innings, scoring 68 runs off 44 balls. Similarly, captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored 36 runs, while Richa Ghosh contributed 34 runs off 17 balls at a fast pace. For Pakistan, Sadia Iqbal and Fatima Sana took 2 wickets each, while Tasmia Rubab and Rameen Shamim took 1 wicket each.

Chasing the victory target of 171 runs, the Pakistani team, which came onto the field, could not withstand the strong bowling of the Indian bowlers and was all out for just 106 runs in 17 overs. Apart from Muneeba Ali scoring the highest 41 runs for Pakistan, other batters could not perform significantly.

To dismiss Pakistan cheaply, India's Deepti Sharma bowled lethally, conceding only 10 runs and taking 5 wickets. Similarly, Sri Charani took 3 wickets and Shafali Verma took 1 wicket, ensuring India's victory.