Before the Women's T20 World Cup began, the Indian players were confident that they had a great chance of winning their maiden ICC trophy. But after their first two matches, one wonders if that confidence is on the wane.

India Women's campaign began with a crushing loss against New Zealand. They returned to winning ways on Sunday, with a six-wicket win over Pakistan. But the margin of victory does not really narrate the full story.

After the bowlers had done their bit by restricting Pakistan to 105/8 in 20 overs, it seemed the chase would be a cakewalk for the Indian batters. But it wasn't so.

After Smriti Mandhana's early dismissal in the fifth over, India went into a shell adopting a defensive approach. As a result, they did not look very comfortable in the chase, finally managing to win in 18.5 overs.

In the process, they failed to lift their net run rate (NRR). India's NRR is currently -1.217 and they remain below Pakistan, who are in the third place with -0.555. India would need to beat both Australia and Sri Lanka by comfortable margins to harbour any hopes of a semi-final berth.

Opener Shafali Verma, usually known for her fluent shot-making, was quieter on Sunday, scoring 32 off 35 balls with just three boundaries to show. Jemimah Rodrigues, the No. 3 batter, made 23 off 28 balls and failed to strike even a single boundary.

It was captain Harmanpreet Kaur who used her experience to add some tempo to the innings. She made a 24-ball-29 before retiring hurt when two runs were required for victory.

Earlier, the Indian bowling unit fired in unison to trouble Pakistan. Seamer Arundhati Reddy (3/19) returned the best figures, while off-spinners Deepti Sharma (1/24) and Shreyanka Patil (2/12) too bowled well.

Pakistan Women

M. Ali st Richa b Patil 17

G. Feroza b Renuka 0

S. Amin b Sharma 8

O. Sohail c Shafali b Reddy 3

N. Dar b Reddy 28

A. Riaz lbw Reddy 4

F. Sana c Ghosh b Sobhana 13

T. Hassan c Shafali b Patil 0

S. Shah not out 14

N. Sandhu not out 6

Extras (b-2, lb-1, w-9) 12

Total (8 wickets, 20 overs) 105

Fall of wickets: 1/1, 2/25, 3/33, 4/41, 5/52, 6/70, 7/71, 8/99

Bowling: Renuka 4-0-23-1, Sharma 4-0-24-1, Reddy 4-0-19-3, Patil 4-1-12-2, Sobhana 4-0-24-1

India Women

S. Verma c Riaz b Sohail 32

S. Mandhana c Hassan b Iqbal 7

J. Rodrigues c Ali b Sana 23

H. Kaur retd hurt 29

R. Ghosh c Ali b Sana 0

D. Sharma not out 7

S. Sajana not out 4

Extras (w-6) 6

Total (4 wickets, 18.5 overs) 108

Fall of wickets: 1/18, 2/61, 3/80, 4/80

Bowling: Sana 4-0-23-2, Iqbal 4-0-23-1, Dar 1.5-0-10-0, Sohail 3-0-17-1, Sandhu 4-0-21-0, Hassan 2-0-14-0

PoM: Arundhati Reddy

With inputs from PTI