Pakistan Women pull things back with the ball,
but implode while batting to hand 43-run win to England Women
27 September 2012 - 12:38pm IST by Shashank
Kishore in Galle
Spin was in on the
day as England ensured there were no major surprises in store, brushing aside
Pakistan by 43 runs in a Group A encounter of the ICC Women's World Twenty20 in
Galle on Thursday (September 27).
After being sent in
to bat, England posted a competitive total of 133 for 6 in 20 overs. Sana Mir,
the Pakistan captain, would have hoped to of make use of the early morning
assistance from the pitch after winning the toss, but her bowlers failed to
back the decision as Charlotte Edwards, the England captain, and Laura Marsh
blazed away to post 50 in just six overs.
Some poor fielding
did not help Pakistan as it looked like it was intimidated by the big occasion.
Marsh raised her maiden T20I fifty in an opening stand of 102 in 13.1 overs,
before being run out for 54.
For a team that has
played a lot of cricket together in recent times, it was surprising to see the
lack of communication accounting for the next English dismissal, when Edwards
was run out for 45.
Sarah Taylor,
England's most prolific run-scorer, had the perfect launchpad to accelerate,
but given the same pitch was being used for a second consecutive day meant it
took a while for the batters to adjust, which became increasingly visible as
Pakistan made full use of its slow options.
Pakistan did well to
pull things back by picking up the last five wickets for just 20 runs to
restrict England to a gettable total. Mir was the pick of the bowlers with
figures of 2 for 20, while Sadia Yousuf and Nida Rashid had one wicket apiece.
In reply, Pakistan’s
batters hardly posed any challenge as it was bowled out for 90 in the 20thover.
Despite making a fine comeback with the ball, it was always going to be a stiff
task, given England's experienced bowling attack.
Qanita Jalil (14),
Nain Abidi (11), Javeria Khan (23) and lower-order batter Batool Fatima (11 not
out) were the only ones to put up a fight, but there were no partnerships of
note, and the scoring rate refused to pick up at any stage.
Holly Colvin was the
pick of the bowlers for England with four scalps, while Danielle Hazell picked
up two wickets.
England displayed
tremendous agility and enthusiasm on the field, despite having the game well
under control at every stage. Its hunger to keep exceeding its expectations, as
explained by Edwards before the game, seemed to find an echo in the effort of
each and every player.
England next face a
tougher challenge against India on Friday, while it is back to the drawing
board for Pakistan, who face a threat of elimination, when they face off
against Australia, the defending champion.
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