Pakistan 133 for 9 (Javeria 52, Maroof 42, Kumari 3-23) beat Sri Lanka129 for 6 (Sanjeewani 61, Nilakshi de Silva 35*, Baig 2-18, Mir 2-25) by one wicket
COLOMBO: Pakistan women maintained their all-win record on tour in Sri Lanka – they swept the ODIs 3-0 – but endured a fair few nerves en route a chase they looked set to kill very easily in Colombo. Cruising at 89 for 3 in 12 overs chasing 130, they lost six for 38 to set up a thrilling finish. In the end, No. 11 Ghulam Fatima, on T20I debut, hit the penultimate ball for a boundary to help Pakistan record their highest chase in the format.
Sugandika Kumari, the left-arm spinner, orchestrated the collapse to pick three wickets, including that of Javeria Khan, but not before she smashed the fastest T20I fifty for a Pakistani woman. By then, Pakistan was within touching distance even though they kept losing wickets.
Bismah Maroof, the captain and No. 3, helped consolidate early in the innings with a brisk 31-ball 42 that set the tone of the chase. With these two innings knocking off nearly three-quarter of the target, the others needed to just chip in, which they barely managed in the end.
That Sri Lanka was able to make a match of this was courtesy Anushka Sanjeewani’s maiden T20 half-century. Playing in just her eighth T20I, she struck eight fours in her 58-ball 61 at the top of the order, even as Sri Lanka endured a top-order collapse that reduced them to 38 for 5 in the ninth over. Sana Mir, the offspinner, and Diana Baig, the medium pacer, picked up four of those wickets between them to maintain a stranglehold over proceedings.
Sanjeewani found support from Nilakshi de Silva, the No. 7 batsman, whose unbeaten 34-ball 35 during the course of an 84-run stand off just 11.5 overs helped Sri Lanka stage a remarkable recovery. Sanjeewani looked set to carry her bat through but was run out off the penultimate delivery of the innings.
