Pakistan, led by a fantastic performance by skipper Fatima Sana, had the England side 79-7 in their must-win Women’s World Cup encounter before rain played spoilsport to stop play at the R. Pramedasa Stadium in Colombo.
Just in the second over, Diana Baig struck after Tammy Bemaunt left one that jagged back in and took her off stump — a picture-perfect wicket for Pakistan’s front-line pacer after a no-ball earlier in the over.
Fatima followed it up with an even better delivery — pegging back Amy Jones’ middle stump with one that seamed back in after pitching in the corridor of uncertainty.
The Pakistani skipper followed it up with another booming inswinger to get her opposite number Nat Sciver-Brunt by making a mess of her stumps.
Heather Knight was the next to follow in the same over as England slumped to 39-4 in just the seventh over.
The English side were in all sorts of trouble at the end of the powerplay — losing half their side for just 54 led by Fatima’s three scalps.
Alice Capsey got a chance in the 18th over when Muneeba Ali dropped a regulation catch inside the circle at square-leg off the bowling of Rameen Shamim.
However, Rameem eventually got her scalp five overs later when Capsey missed a sweep and was adjudged lbw on a ball that — according to ball-tracking — would have hit the leg-stump.
Rain came to the rescue of the English batters as their innings was teetering along at 79-7 at the halfway mark of the innings.
Pakistan were by far the happier side going into the rain-induced break, but memories of Beth Mooney’s hundred that rescued Australia back from the brink of disaster after being 76-7 must have been on the minds of Fatima’s charges.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first in their must-win encounter.
The players also observed a minute of silence in remembrance of squad member Shawaal Zulfiqar’s father, who passed away on Monday.
Last week‘s defeat against Australia left their knockout hopes hanging by a thread as Pakistan registered three losses on the trot and need a win today to keep their campaign alive.
Pakistan had two changes in their side, with Aliya Riaz and Omema Sohail back in the team.
Speaking at the toss, Fatima said: “Pitch looks like it will spin, and we will want to take advantage. The spinners will want to take advantage … we want to bat longer, build partnerships. We need to finish off games.”
Pakistan women’s all-rounder Syed Aroob Shah said on Tuesday that the team was looking to “perform better with the bat” ahead of the England encounter.
Squad member Shawaal would be continuing with the squad after her father passed away in Sialkot, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on the same day.
A superb century from Beth Mooney dragged defending champions Australia back from the brink of disaster after being 76-7 before they completed a crushing 107-run win over the Green Shirts last Wednesday.
Fatima Sana’s charges endured a tough start to their campaign, slumping to heavy defeats against Bangladesh and India.
Their batting has wavered, although their bowling has been exceptional in short phases but has lacked the punch to finish innings well, and lapses in the field — a combination that has left them bottom of the eight-team table with little margin for error.
England went into the encounter with three wins in three matches — adding to the peril of the Green Shirts’ task.
Speaking ahead of the match, England’s Capsey said that Pakistan had been involved in some “exciting games of cricket”.
“I think what we’ve seen by Pakistan so far is that they’ve been involved in some really exciting games of cricket, and they’ve had teams kind of on the back burner a little bit,” the 21-year-old batter said.
She added that England were making sure that they were really specific with what their plans were for each individual bowler — whether that be seam or spin.
Teams:
Pakistan: Omaima Sohail, Muneeba Ali, Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper), Fatima Sana (captain), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, and Sadia Iqbal.
England: Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones (wk), Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), Sophia Dunkley, Emma Lamb, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn, Linsey Smith, and Em Arlott.
