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The women’s version of the T20 World Cup is underway in South Africa and is almost nearing its end. The competition comprised of ten teams, each divided into two groups of five. Group 1 had teams from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. While England, India, West Indies, Pakistan, and Ireland made it to group 2.
Journey of Pakistan Women’s Cricket team in the World Cup consisted of four matches. Unfortunately, they could only grab one victory out of four and the games were all very close encounters. Despite losing, there were some positives that made the entire country proud. Here’s how the matches unfolded and the achievements that were made.
Related to women’s cricket team: Check out which players made it into the squad
Journey of Pakistan Women’s Cricket team in T20 World Cup 2023
Pakistan v India
The green team began their World Cup campaign with a big clash against arch-rivals India. Batting first, the girls had a shaky start, but when skipper Bismah Maroof took the front seat, the scoreboard began to gain some weight. Ayesha Naseem played a last-minute heroic inning hitting two sixes and two fours and it was 149 on board for India to defend.
Jemimah Rodrigues from India was the highest-scorer for her side and with few contributions from other team members, the target was achieved in the 19th over. Bismah’s army did a brilliant job in the field but an awry over took away the game from them.
Pakistan v Ireland
The Pakistan v Ireland clash will be one to remember for a long time. The women in green were able to post 165 runs on display courtesy of a magnificently brilliant 102-run knock from Muneeba Ali. Her inning consisted of solid 14 boundaries and a whole bunch of guts. History was created when she entered triple digits as she had become the first Pakistani woman cricketer to score a century in T20 World Cup.
The match wasn’t just a one-sided display from the girls. Bowling and fielding were on point that day. Nashra Sandhu took four wickets that restricted the bat of the opposition from hitting big and their entire team was sent back to the pavilion at just 95 runs. It was a comprehensive win for the girls.
Pakistan Women v West Indies Women
The Pakistan women v West Indies women was a do-or-die match in the Journey of Pakistan Women’s Cricket team in the T20 World Cup 2023. They absolutely needed to win this one in order to qualify for the semi-finals.
After winning the toss, the Caribbean women took to batting first and aggregated 116 runs for their opposition. Despite the total being very chasable, the women in green could not achieve it. The centurion from the previous game, Muneeba Ali, lost her wicket after scoring just five runs. Aliya Riaz and Nida Dar were the highest scorers for the team making 29 and 27 runs respectively.
Nonetheless, it was a close game and the match went into the wire before Bisma’s team lost the match by just three runs in the last over. West Indies, always an easy opposition for the girls in green, ended their World Cup dreams.
Pakistan Women v England Women
The last match in the Journey of Pakistan Women’s Cricket team in T20 World Cup was against the mighty English team and it was pretty much a one-sided affair for them. A half-century by opener Dani Wyatt and an 81-run assault by Nat Sciver set the scoreboard at 213 runs.
The second inning proved to be a disaster for green shirts. Not one batter could rise to the occasion and the entire team could only manage 99 runs in 20 overs. It was a rather embarrassing end to their World Cup campaign.
The only good thing to have come out of this particular match was Nida Dar’s stunning achievement of becoming the highest wicket-taker in the T20I format of the game. Dar achieved this feat by taking the scalp of Heather Knight and now her tally of wickets read 126 in 123 innings. The 36-year-old all-rounder took this top spot from West Indian bowler Anisa Mohammad.
Overall, Bismah Maroof and her team did a good job in this tournament but there still seems to be a lot of room for improvement in all the fields of the game. Despite suffering years of neglect, the women’s cricket department is on the mend and great things are coming for the girls including a maiden female version of the Pakistan Super League whose soft launch is expected to be played this March.
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