Indian Women Cricket team picked up their first win of the 22nd Commonwealth Games, beating Pakistan by eight wickets in their second match at Edgbaston, Birmingham today. Opening batter Smriti Mandhana did the star turn for India with an unbheaten 63 after bowlers Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav took two wickets apiece to skittle Pakistan out for 99 in 18 overs.

Earlier in their opening match on July 29, India went down to Australia by three wickets despite a half-century by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and a four-wicket haul by Renuka Singh. In reply to a competitive total of 154 for eight by India, Australia won the match with one over to spare.

Meanwhile, Indian Men Table Tennis team went through to the quarterfinals after a comfortable victory over Bangladesh in the round of 16. They next play in the semi-finals against Nigeria.

Swimmer Srihari Natraj advanced to the men 50m backstroke semis with a second-place finish in his Heat-6. World champion boxer Nikhat Zareen got off to a flier in her 48-50kg (Light Flyweight) round of 16 bout against Helena Ismail Bagao of Mozambique with the referee being forced to stop the contest in her favour.

However, Shiva Thapa in his 60-63.5kg (Light Welterweight) bout, went down 1-4 on points to Reese Lynch of Scotland to end his campaign at the Games. In another weightlifting class, the women 59kg, Popy Hazarika could not make much headway finishing in seventh position with a total lift of 183kgs.

In gymnastics, Yogeshwar Singh finished 15th in the men individual all-round competition. In the corresponding women event, Ruthuja Natraj also finished outside the medal positions.

In lawn bowls, the women-four team consisting of Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia and Rupa Rani Tirkey beat Norfolk Island 17-9 to reach the semifinals that will be played against New Zealand. In squash, Joshana Chinappa reached the quarterfinals by beating Kaitlyn Watts of New Zealand 3-0.
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PHOTO: File photo Indian woman cricketer Smriti Mandhana whose unbeaten half-century helped Indian women cricket team beat Pakistan at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on 31 July 2022.