Women's T20 World Cup: Pakistan start campaign with resounding 31-run win over Sri Lanka

The Asia Cup 2024 champions Sri Lanka suffered a 31-run loss against Pakistan in a closely fought contest at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on October 3, Thursday. Meanwhile, Pakistan are off to a winning start in their Women's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. The rivalry between Sri Lanka and Pakistan boasted of a rich history, and it truly lived up to its hype. The low-scoring encounter witnessed an all-round show from the Pakistan captain, who led from the front with both the bat and the ball. Chasing a modest target of 117 on a slow Sharjah pitch, Sri Lanka managed just 85 runs. The Pakistan spinners took the pace off, leaving Sri Lanka struggling and Sadia Iqbal was the pick among the bowlers with 3/17.

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Pakistan women won the toss and opted to bat first and the captain's decision was owing to the slow-pace nature of the pitch, which turned out to be true. Nonetheless, Pakistan didn't get off to a great start as they were reeling at 32/3 by the end of the powerplay and lost their top-order batters. They just couldn't get the partnerships going and were going at a rate of less than six runs per over. Omaima Sohail and Nida Dar gave Pakistan with some impetus as they scored 18 and 23 respectively. However, they soon fell to the choke by Sri Lankan spinners.

Pakistan off to a winning start

In what looked like Pakistan couldn't bundle out for an embarrassing total of 100, captain Fatima Sana turned to the rescue. She came out and played some big shots to give her team a chance to fight it out in the contest. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan spinners were fantastic as the Pakistan's middle order was stifled by Chamari Athaththu and Sugandhika Kumari, who took three wickets each alongside Prabodhani.

Sri Lanka crumble in chase

Pakistan suffered an early setback as Diana Baig hobbled off the field after bowling the very first ball of the chase. Despite the jolt, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana struck in the 3rd over as she got the big wicket of Chamari Athapaththu, who departed after scoring six. Omaima Sohail scalped two wickets in her first two overs to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 35/3. Then it was time for Nashra Sandhu to weave her magic with two wickets in her two overs. The flow of runs dried up completely as Sri Lanka found themselves at 52/5. Pakistan tightened their grip over the match as only two batters, namely Vishmi Gunaratne and Nilakshi de Silva managed two-digit scores.

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