Jemimah Rodrigues scored an unbeaten 53 from 38 deliveries to lead her side to a seven-wicket victory in Cape Town as India chased down their target of 150 runs with six balls to spare.

Jemimah Rodrigues revealed on Sunday that India's win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the Women's T20 World Cup was inspired by the 'special' Virat Kohli. Rodrigues hit an unbeaten 53 from 38 deliveries to lead his side to a seven-run win in Cape Town as India chased down their target of 150 runs with six balls to spare. Match winner Rodrigues admitted that the memory of Kohli's 82 off 53 balls in India's four-run win over Pakistan in the men's T20 World Cup last year was an inspiration. "India v Pakistan matches are always a little bit more special -- we spoke about it in the team meeting," said the 22-year-old.

"Growing up we always watched these matches. I remember watching the match at the MCG where Virat Kohli played such an extraordinary knock.

"We did speak about it but we also just wanted to go out there and put our first win on the board. We just wanted to go out, play the same cricket and with the same intensity as usual."

Rodrigues entered the World Cup in worrying form which saw him hit just one in 30 in the last 10 T20 Internationals.

But on Sunday he was the star of the show, ably supported by wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, 19, who took 31 not out.

"This innings means a lot to me -- I hadn't been getting scores for a long time," Rodrigues told a news conference.

"As a batter when you're not getting scores, it's definitely not an enjoyable time. I was working really hard in the nets, I knew I was ticking all the boxes, putting in the effort and going to the gym.

"It was very tough but when it mattered the most, it came, so it was very special for me."

Sunday's win was India's 11th in 14 T20 matches against their local rivals. However, Pakistan made a competitive total of 149-4 after the win with skipper Bismah Maroof scoring an unbeaten 68. Ayesha Naseem, 18, took 43 steps in 25 balls.

"We played very good cricket throughout the match. There were errors in our bowling, but overall it was a good match," said Bismah.

"There are lots of learnings and we're planning to be better next game."