CWG 2022: Harmanpreet Kaur surpasses MS Dhoni to script spectacular India captaincy record with Pakistan win

Team India opened their account in the Commonwealth Games 2022 after the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan by eight wickets in Birmingham on Sunday, hence boosting their chances of making the semi-finals of the T20 tournament. And with the big win their second group-stage tie in the competition, after having lost to Australia in the opener, captain Harmanpreet scripted a spectacular India captaincy record in T20I cricket, surpassing the legendary MS Dhoni.

India did not have a perfect start to CWG 2022 as they lost to Australia in their opening match, but brought their desired 'killing attitude' to the fore to bounce back in style and beat Pakistan in the rain-curtailed match on Sunday.

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The win helped Harmanpreet extend his tally of victories to 42 as India captain. The tally stands third-most among captains in women's T20I, behind Charlotte Edwards (68) and Meg Lanning (64). The tally of 42 wins which Harmanpreet managed in 71 appearances as India's T20I captain is now also the most by an India skipper, as he surpassed Dhoni's tally of 41 wins which came in 72 matches.

"It feels good to win, 1st wins are important. There were a lot of positives today & we would try to continue this ahead. It's important to perform as a unit, we had a good start today & won quickly," Harmanpreet said after the win.

Pakistan's decision to bat first backfired as the Indian bowlers ran riot bundling out the side for just 99 runs in the contest that was reduced to 18 overs owing to the rain. Spinners Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav stood out with two wickets each. In reply, Smriti Mandhana (63 not out off 42 balls) put on a clinical batting performance flaunting her range of strokes on way to an impressive unbeaten half century as India gunned down the target in just 11.4 overs.

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