'The greatest rivalry ever' tagline is, to put it mildly, an exaggeration when it comes to an India vs Pakistan in women's cricket.
Only the occasional contest, like the one from the previous Asia Cup, or when Delhi gave Sana Mir & co a rapturous ovation after their famous win at the T20 World Cup in 2016, has piqued interest of broadcasters and advertisers.
Otherwise, the excitement has often felt manufactured, not organic. In the digital age, where social media is a barometer of sporting frenzy, there was hardly any talk of this being 'the contest' to look forward to. If anything, India vs Bangladesh, with it's feistiness, occasional ill temper, animated celebrations and, at times, furore over umpiring, has challenged this rivalry to become the rivalry in Asia.
Ask Harmanpreet Kaur, who was at the centre of it only recently, slamming "pathetic umpiring", only for her opposite number, Nigar Sultana to suggest she "should've shown better manners".
As unfortunate as that incident may have been, it has without doubt contributed to the edge around the rivalry. There has been a sense of uneasy calm around the two teams ever since, and while subsequent matches haven't witnessed similar episodes, the competitive energy that was missing until even four years ago is now very much present.
In that sense, Friday was Pakistan's opportunity to prove that the broadcasters were right to build this match up for primetime viewing. Unfortunately, it fell flat right at the beginning, perhaps as soon as Nida Dar decided to bat on what she felt was a "dry surface."
Her decision may have perhaps been influenced by recent history. The last time they met India at the Asia Cup, Pakistan batted first, made 137, and then tied India into knots. Maybe it was the chance to bat freely without scoreboard pressure, but Pakistan quickly found themselves up against it when Pooja Vastrakar picked up two wickets inside the powerplay with the short ball.
Batter after batter attempted big shots, none bigger than Nida's heave down long-on's throat at a time when she was Pakistan's biggest hope of getting close to 130. India's spinners gnawed at a scratchy middle order who dug themselves into a pit they couldn't get out of. Barring Muneeba Ali, who looked to break away early on, and Fatima Sana towards the end, most of the other batters adopted a safety-first approach, allowing India's bowlers to dictate terms.
Deepti Sharma continued to show why she's a threat on subcontinent surfaces, with her guile and ability to lull batters out with her flight. Shreyanka Patil exhibited her variety - a carrom ball, traditional off spin, an outswinger and even a bouncer when challenged to defend a free-hit.
Renuka Singh has often been prolific when there has been movement on offer, but has often struggled in conditions where there's no swing, especially in the middle and death overs. On Friday, she returned to deliver two key breakthroughs to boost her confidence, even as a new and improved Arundhati Reddy waits in the wings. Radha Yadav was largely accurate until one bad over in the end dented her analysis. Essentially, every India bowler got a decent workout.
In the end, 108 was hardly enough to challenge India's batting might. Their response to the total, fuelled by Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma's rampaging form, was not one bit surprising. Mandhana is coming off three hundreds against South Africa, and Shafali a barnstorming Test double.
For a while now, Amol Muzumdar, India's head coach, has stressed on developing a killer instinct. It's a quality India have seemed to lack in numerous crunch moments, none more famously than against Australia in the semi-finals of the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa. But with little pressure to contend with, Mandhana and Shafali dictated terms, attacked Pakistan's spinners from the get go, and raced to a powerplay score of 57 for no loss.
"Playing fearless cricket, it's something we've spoken about and something we want to keep doing," Harmanpreet said. "It's important to set the tone and whoever got the opportunity did well. When we were bowling, we spoke of early breakthroughs [which Vastrakar gave then] and with the bat, credit to Smriti and Shafali."
India would have liked to finish more clinically, without losing three quick wickets to big shots, but it's unlikely to cause them to fret too much. They looked every bit the tournament favourites, and Pakistan like they needed to play out of their skins to try and have another crack at igniting the 'greatest rivalry ever'.