Pakistan’s women cricket team beat Bangladesh by nine wickets with over three overs to spare on Thursday in the ICC World T20 match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi.
Bismah Maroof and Sidra Ameen ensured Pakistan aced their chase against Bangladesh as this second-wicket pair added 99 runs in their unbroken partnership, Pakistan’s highest in World T20s for any wicket and best for the second wicket in T20Is.
Bowling first, the national women’s team restricted their opponents to 113 for nine, with Anam Amin and Asmavia Iqbal getting two wickets apiece. Fargana Hoque was the top scorer for Bangladesh, scoring 36 off 37 balls with two fours. She shared a 43-run third wicket stand with opener Sharmin Akhter, who made 19 off 34 balls. But once Sharmin fell in the 14th over, through a soft dismissal when she dabbed Sana Mir to Nida Dar at short fine leg, Pakistan took control.
In the field, the girls in green were at times clumsy but put up an extraordinary effort. Wicket-keeper Sidra Nawaz, who was a live-wire behind the stumps, was involved in two of the four run-outs while spinner Anam Amin bagged two wickets.
In their chase, Pakistan reached their target in 16.3 overs. Sidra Ameen was declared player of the match for her maiden half-ton from 48 deliveries.
Both Ameen and Maroof ensured Pakistan remained in contention for the knockouts. On four points from three games, they have a match against England in hand; a win in that game will put them directly in the semis should West Indies lose their final game to India; if both Pakistan and West Indies win, it will be a three-way tie with England on six points and come down to net run rate. Even if Pakistan lose that game, though, they still might go through if West Indies are defeated by a big enough margin to bring their NRR below Pakistan’s.
Bangladesh bowed out of the competition having lost four out of four group matches.
Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Jahanara Alam won the toss and decided to bat as they took on high-flying Pakistan.
On Saturday, Pakistan women’s team won against India by two runs in the tournament under the Duckworth-Lewis method after rain disrupted the match. The green-shirts meet England in their final Group stage match on Sunday.