Pakistan were put into bat after losing the toss in their must-win encounter against New Zealand at the ICC Women’s World Cup in Colombo on Saturday.
Pakistan are unchanged from their last encounter against England on Wednesday.
Asked about their batting woes in the tournament so far, Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana said: “Our batting will hopefully execute better today.”
The weather was cloudy in the Sri Lankan capital, with spells of rain expected later in the day.
For New Zealand, Lea Tahuhu replaced Bree Illing. Skipper Sophie Devine, explaining the decision to bowl first, said, “We want to have first crack at the track, especially with rain around.”
On Wednesday, Pakistan’s hopes of a first victory at the World Cup were hit by rain, with their crucial fixture against England being abandoned after a second downpour in Colombo.
Chasing a revised target of 113 to win after earlier rains had reduced the match to 31 overs per side, Pakistan were well on their way at 34-0 in 6.4 overs when rains returned to end any chance of the match being completed — saving England from their first ever loss against the Green Shirts.
Opener Omaima Sohail said on Friday that the team was still looking forward to a chance to make the semi-finals of the tournament.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference at the R. Pramedasa Stadium in Colombo, Omaima said: “We are not relaxed at all. We have a chance to go [to the] semis if we win the matches, like three matches.
“So maybe the scenario is open, so maybe we will win the three matches, so we have a chance in the semis.”
Omaima showed glimpses of form in the England encounter, hitting a couple of sublime drives through the covers on her way to an unbeaten run-a-ball 18.
She, along with fellow opener Muneeba Ali, will be pivotal to providing stability at the top for a batting line-up that has failed to cross the 200-run mark in the tournament so far.
“I think the main challenge is to open — play the new ball. If you saw the matches, they are seaming and the pitch is [helping] seam. I’m trying to play the new ball and working on it,” the right-handed batter said of the challenges of opening.
Pakistan’s bowling, however, has been the real positive for the Green Shirts so far — having strong sides like England and Australia 78-7 and 76-7 in back-to-back matches.
New Zealand head coach Ben Sawyer was also wary about the danger posed by the Pakistani bowling at the presser.
“From Pakistan, Yeah. Look, they’ve put some teams in some real tough spots, so I think they had Australia 6 for 60. And then obviously the other night England was 7 for 70. So, their bowling attack is one that we’ve got to be really wary of.
Sawyer also spoke about the improvements seen in the Pakistani top-order in the previous outing against England, saying: “Their top order is, they made a little bit — look like light work of maybe chasing down that total the other night. So, they’ve been impressive.”
The Kiwis also go into the encounter with a washout of their own against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. The match got called off after Sri Lanka scored a daunting 258-6 batting first.
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.
New Zealand: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (capt), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, and Lea Tahuhu.
