In the first T20 World Cup match between these two countries in ten years, Pakistan’s spinners locked down Sri Lanka on a sluggish track at Sharjah after Fatima Sana made a helpful cameo down the order. Pakistan won convincingly by 31 runs. Pakistan, who decided to bat first, were bowled out for 116 but effectively managed to keep Sri Lanka at bay, with the Asia Cup winners struggling and failing to create any momentum with the bat once Chamari Athapaththu departed early in the chase.
Even though fast bowler Diana Baig was lost to an apparent calf injury early in the target defence, Fatima Sana’s decision to bat was questioned, but the Pakistan captain was vindicated when Sharjah saw little to no dew in the second innings, allowing her spinners to hold sway.
Athapaththu, incidentally, was happy to pursue and had even set his sights on limiting Pakistan to less than 120. With a strong bowling effort, her side made up ground on that count, and Sana delivered the game-winning blow right at the finish. With the final delivery of the second over, Sugandika Kumari struck, mostly because Anushka Sanjeewani made a brilliant catch behind the stumps to remove Gull Feroza.
Muneeba Ali became the second batter to fall to Sugandika after hitting a six off left-arm medium-pacer Udeshika Prabodhani. This time, Muneeba gained a significant advantage on an attempted cut to an arm delivery from the left-arm spinner, but Sanjeewani behind the stumps held on to a challenging catch anyway. After forcing Sidra Amin to misjudge an attempted slog, Athapaththu completed a return catch to put Pakistan down three for 32 inside the PowerPlay.
After being slog-swept for six earlier in the over, Kavisha Dilhari bowled Omaina a floaty ball. However, Omaina played the sweep stroke far too early and toe-edged a catch to square leg.
After that, Prabodhani came back on the attack and used a change-up around the wicket angle to easily dismiss Dar for 23. In the following over, Athpaththu removed Tuba Hassan and Aliya Riaz off successive balls in the 14th over, the former to another stunning catch behind the stumps and the latter to a
However, skipper Sana and Nashra Sandhu put up a strong rearguard. Of the 28 runs that the ninth-wicket combination added, Sandhu scored just 4 runs off of 12 balls.
After the second innings’ first ball, Pakistan lost Baig to injury, but their skipper once again stood up and left his mark. Sana delivered a heavier delivery after delivering two length balls, which allowed her opposite number, Athapaththu, to chip a catch to extra cover. After taking over, Omaima administered a twin blow, dismissing Hasini Perera and the highly effective Harshitha Samarawickrama, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 35 for 3. The second dismissal was a joy for the off-spinner. After veering toward the left-handed Perera, it spun past the bat and struck the top of the off-stump after a 4.7 degree turn.
Sri Lanka’s batsmen were unable to drive the tempo, as Sandhu added two of her own wickets and Sadia Iqbal claimed three lower-order wickets. As the match drew to a predictable and dull end, Sri Lanka really only managed three boundaries during their innings and none at all after the eighth over.
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