Two days after making their lowest ever T20I total, Pakistan bowled Hong Kong out for 71 in Dubai. Sandhu’s four overs are the best figures any Pakistan woman has produced in the format.
Pakistan had to beat Hong Kong in Dubai on Monday to reach the Women’s Asia Cup semi-finals, and 143 for 8 did not look like a total that settled anything. Then Nashra Sandhu bowled her four overs. She took six wickets for seven runs, Hong Kong were bowled out for 71, and a game that felt awkward at halfway finished as a 72-run win.
Zulfiqar’s 47 was the innings that made the total
Shawaal Zulfiqar made 47 from 35 balls, and around her the top order kept handing wickets back. Ayesha Zafar’s 26 from 19 was the only other innings that moved at any pace, and Joyleen Kaur held the middle of the innings together for Hong Kong with career-best figures of 4 for 19 from her four overs. Iqra Sahar took 2 for 27 and Kary Chan 2 for 33.
Fatima Sana finished unbeaten on 24 from 24 balls to get Pakistan past 140. Dubai has been hard work for batters all fortnight, with totals of 55, 56, 114 and 115 already logged there in this tournament, so 143 looked defendable rather than comfortable.
Six for seven, and a Pakistan record
Sandhu’s figures are the best any Pakistan woman has produced in a T20 international. The previous mark was Omaima Sohail’s 5 for 13 against Sri Lanka at the 2022 Asia Cup, and no Pakistan bowler had taken six in the format at all. Sandhu went at under two an over across the spell, and three of the six wickets came inside five balls in her final over, the first two on consecutive deliveries.
Hong Kong were never close to the chase. Kary Chan top-scored with 30 from 47 balls, Joyleen Kaur made 10, and the innings lasted 19 overs. Sadia Iqbal, Ayesha Zafar, Umm-e-Hani and Fatima Sana took one wicket each to go with Sandhu’s six.
Two days after 55 all out
What makes the performance worth pausing on is where Pakistan were standing on Saturday. India bowled them out for 55 in 18.1 overs that day, the lowest total Pakistan have made in a women’s T20I, below the 56 they made against New Zealand at the same ground two years ago. Shree Charani took 3 for 7 and Prema Rawat 3 for 9, and India knocked the runs off in 8.4 overs.
Both of those results are extreme, and this Pakistan side is somewhere in the middle of them. But the bowling has been the more dependable half all tournament. They defended 119 against Thailand on 1 September and won by 35, and they have now held two of their three opponents under 90.
Sri Lanka next, on Friday
Pakistan finish second in Group A on four points behind India, who won all three of their matches and were never going to be caught. That sends them into the second semi-final against Group B winners Sri Lanka on Friday 11 September in Dubai. India play the Group B runner-up on Thursday 10 September, and the final is on 13 September at the same ground.
Sri Lanka are the defending champions and they came through their group with three wins from three. Sandhu will not take six for seven again on Friday. But Pakistan have spent this group stage looking like a side whose bowlers can keep them in almost anything, and a semi-final is the sort of game where that matters more than the batting does.
More cricket news from Dubai and elsewhere
Related Tags:
Dubai International Cricket StadiumFatima SanaHong Kong WomenJoyleen KaurNashra SandhuPakistan WomenShawaal ZulfiqarSri Lanka WomenT20I cricketWomen’s Asia CupWomens Cricket
Source: www.sportsadda.asia
