After thrashing continental minnows Thailand and Hong Kong in their first two matches, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team India will look to wrap up the group stages with another commanding win against cross border arch-rivals Pakistan in the on-going ACC Women’s Asia Cup 2026 in Dubai later today.
India have already secured a spot in the semi-finals after two convincing 94 and 137-run wins and the match-up against Pakistan will be their first big test in the tournament.
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‘Just another match’: Ayesha Zafar plays down India-Pakistan rivalry ahead of Asia Cup 2026 clash
India began their campaign with a comfortable win over Thailand before producing another dominant performance against Hong Kong.
Smriti Mandhana was the star of the second match, scoring 124 off 64 ballsIt was her second T20I century and made her the first Indian woman to score two centuries in the formatDeepti Sharma has also been among India’s leading performers, taking six wickets across the first two matches.
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Pakistan, meanwhile, will be hoping to put up a stronger fight against a side that has had the better of this rivalry for yearsTheir bowlers will have a key role to play, particularly against India’s opening pair of Mandhana and Shafali VermaPakistan’s batting will also need to improve if they are to challenge India’s strong bowling attack.
The two teams last met at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, where India secured a 64-run victoryMandhana played an important innings in that match, while Deepti Sharma was the standout bowler with figures of 5/10India’s win was another reminder of their advantage in this contest, but Pakistan will take confidence from the fact that they have managed to beat India in the past.
India have dominated the overall head-to-head recordThey have won 26 of the 29 women’s internationals between the two sides with Pakistan winning just threeIn T20Is, India lead 14-3, while their Asia Cup record is also heavily in their favourIndia have won six of their seven meetings against Pakistan in the T20 format of the tournament.
The scenarios are absolutely different for both sides with India wanting to stay in great rhythm and momentum ahead of the semi-finals whereas Pakistan has the chance to upset their fiercest rival and throw them off the course with a shock victoryHowever, given their form, the Indians are expected to come out on top.
