From down in the dumps to a remarkable turnaround, Pakistan Women almost scripted a fairytale against South Africa Women in third game of the ICC Women’s World Cup at Leicester. South Africa were cruising at 113 for 0 in the 26th over, before they made a mockery of the 207-run chase, courtesy 3 run outs. South African men have lost the plot many a time at critical junctures and that has been a reason for their inglorious exits. The women’s side almost repeated the same. Shabnim Ismail’s cameo in the end guided them to a 3-wicket win in the penultimate over. FULL UPDATES
South Africa began strong. Lizelle Lee and teenager Laura Wolvaardt slammed fifties. They had raced to 34 in 5 overs but Sana Mir employed herself and teen spinner Nashra Sandhu to keep a check on the runs. They succeeded but wickets didn’t fall. Sana eventually got the breakthrough in the 26th over, trapping Lee leg before. Wolvaardt departed next to a run out.
Tight bowling, good fielding and panic in the South African camp led to 3 run outs. Mignon du Preez, playing her 100th ODI, reminded of her countryman Faf du Plessis. She was at the other end when all the run outs happened. Earlier this month, South Africa’s men’s side suffered a defeat in the hands of Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy and later against India where AB de Villiers and David Miller were run out, and they were a part of the misunderstandings with du Plessis.
The same script seemed to be following for the women’s team as well. From 113 for 0, the next 116 balls saw them score 64 runs and lose 7 wickets. Sana was brilliant with her captaincy and Javeria Khan was at par in the field. She plucked a stunning catch at midwicket to send back Trisha Chetty and later contributed in Marizanne Kapp’s run out.
Shabnim walked out in the middle with South Africa requiring 30 from the final 5 overs. She had the trusted Sune Luus at the other end. The equation had come down to 16 form 2 overs when Shabnim decided to take matters at hand. Sana decided to bowl the final over that never came and trusted medium-pacer Kainat Imtiaz with the penultimate over. The over went: 1, 1, 4, 2, 4 and 4. Little did anyone expect this from a No. 9.
South Africa are now third in the table after New Zealand and India.
Earlier, South Africa won the toss and put Pakistan in. With a formidable pace attack at their disposal, they would have expected to bowl out Pakistan for a paltry total. Though they kept the run flow in check and claimed Pakistani wickets at regular intervals, they could not get through the resistance provided by opener Nahida Khan. Rock-solid in her approach, Nahida started slowly and held the fort as wickets fell at the other end.
At 61 for 3, Pakistan looked inthe 18th over Pakistan looked in trouble when Nahida and Nain Abidi stitched a 63-run stand for the fourth wicket. With the partnership on, Pakistan looked set for a competitive total. While Abidi fell to Sune Luus’ leg-break for 22, Nahida went on to score 79, highest score from a Pakistani in the World Cup. She went past Nida Dar’s 68 against India from the 2013 edition.
She was particularly severe on South Africa’s star pacer Shabnim, striking her for 2 boundaries and a six. It was eventually Shabnim’s arms that got rid of Nahida. It was a shame that such a fine knock came to an end courtesy run out. Nahida fell with the score on 157 for 5 and Pakistan could only add 49 from 68 balls post her departure.
The star of the show from South Africa’s camp was left-arm medium-pacer Moseline Daniels, who bagged figures of 10-4-21-2. She got the crucial wickets of Javeria and Imtiaz.
Both the sides weren’t good with catching and there were a few dropped chances, including one of Shabnim in what was her second-last hit. Pakistan almost registered their third World Cup victory. They have only 2 wins to their name and both came in the 2009 edition, one each against Sri Lanka and West Indies.
Brief scores:
Pakistan Women 206 for 8 in 50 overs (Nahida Khan 79; Moseline Daniels 2 for 21, Shabnim Ismail 2 for 52) lost to South Africa Women207 for 7 in 49 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 52, Lizelle Lee 60, Mignon du Preez 30, Shabnim Ismail 22*; SadiaYousuf 2 for 30) by 3 wickets
Player of the match: Shabnim Ismail
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