Rodrigues, Ghosh guide India home over Pakistan

Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh have helped India make a winning start to their T20 World Cup push after a tense contest against neighbours Pakistan in Cape Town.

Needing 41 from the last four overs at Newlands on Sunday, this group B match between the traditional rivals was on a knife edge until the pair began to profit from some wayward bowling and several fielding mistakes. path last month for athletes of both countries to earn slots for the Olympics through Asian qualifying and to compete as neutrals, with no flags or anthems.

Ghosh then clattered three successive fours off Aiman Anwer to swing the pendulum towards India, while Rodrigues went on to seal a seven-wicket win with an over to spare by driving Fatima Sana for her eighth four.

That took Rodrigues past her half-century as she finished unbeaten on 53 from 38 balls, while 19-year-old Ghosh contributed 31 off 20 deliveries in an unbroken 58run stand.

Radha Yadav had earlier taken 2-21 as Pakistan were restricted to 4-149 after winning the toss, with captain Bismah Maroof anchoring the innings as she finished on 68no from 55 balls.

Ayesha Naseem clattered two fours and two sixes in her unbeaten 43 from 25 balls in an unbroken 81-run stand that added some late impetus but their total ultimately proved insufficient.

Athletes from Russia and its neighbour Belarus have been banned from many international competitions in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

In a letter to Bach last week, Ukrainian athletes said the IOC was “on the wrong side of history” after Bach had urged Ukraine to drop threats of a boycott.

When asked if the IOC was on the wrong side of history, Bach told reporters on Sunday: “No, history will show who is doing more for peace. The ones who try to keep lines open, to communicate, or the ones who want to isolate or divide.

“We’re trying to find a solution that is giving justice to the mission of sport, which is to unify, not to contribute to more confrontation, more escalation.”

Lithuania’s sports minister said on Friday a group of 35 countries, including the United States, Germany and Australia, will demand Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the 2024 Olympics.

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was quoted as saying by TASS news agency that the calls were “absolutely unacceptable”.

Bach, speaking at the Alpine skiing world championships in Courchevel, France, said the IOC stood in “solidarity” with Ukraine’s athletes.

“With every Ukrainian athlete, we can from a human point of view understand their reactions, we share their suffering,” he said.

“Every Ukrainian athlete can be rest assured that we are standing in full solidarity with them and that all their comments are taken very, very seriously into consideration.”