Harmanpreet Kaur-led India defeated arch rivals Pakistan by 16 runs to win the Asia Cup T20 tournament for the sixth-straight time on Sunday.

This victory comes at a time when tensions are mounting between the two neighbouring countries. The match was played in front of a packed house at the Asian Institute of Technology Cricket Ground on the outskirts of Bangkok, with the Indian fans clearly out-numbering their Pakistani counterparts.

For India, veteran batter Mithali Raj did the star turn, churning out a well-compiled 73 not out to steer the innings and propel India to 121 for 5 in their 20 overs. The bowlers then took control of the game and defended the score comfortably, leaving Pakistan to get an improbable 25 in the final over.

Scoreboard:

India Women:Mithali Rai not out 73 Smriti Mandhana c Asmavia Iqbal b Anam Amin 6 Sabbhineni Meghana run out (Javeria/Sidra) 9 Veda Krishnamurthy lbw b Sadia Yousuf 2 Harmanpreet Kaur b Anam Amin 5 Jhulan Goswami c Javeria Khan b Sana Mir 17 Anuja Patil not out 0 Extras: (W-8, NB-1) 9 Total: (For 5 wkts; 20 overs) 121 Fall of wkts: 1-24, 2-68, 3-73, 4-89, 5-120.Bowling: Asmavia Iqbal 3-0-23-0, Sana Mir 4-0-23-1, Anam Amin 4-0-24-2, Sadia Yousuf 4-0-15-1, Nida Dar 4-0-29-0, Iram Javed 1-0-7-0.

Pakistan Women:Ayesha Zafar b Goswami 15 Javeria Khan c Kaur b Bisht 22 Asmavia Iqbal b Pandey 1 Bismah Maroof c & b Patil 25 Nain Abidi st Verma b Preeti Bose 9 Iram Javed st Verma b Bisht 3 Nida Dar not out 12 Sana Mir not out 12 Extras: (B-1, LB-1, W-3) 5 Total: (For 6 wkts; 20 overs) 104 Fall of wkts: 1-24, 2-28, 3-56, 4-75, 5-79, 6-81.Bowling: Ekta Bisht 4-0-22-2, Anuja Patil 4-0-18-1, Jhulan Goswami 4-0-19 -1, Shikha Pandey 2-0-17-1, Preeti Bose 4-0-18-1, Harmanpreet Kaur 2-0-8-0.