PAKW VS SLW, 1ST ODI
Pakistan got off to a winning start in the ICC Women’s Championship © AFP
Ghulam Fatima’s four strikes and a run out downed Sri Lanka in their first one-day international in nearly two and a half years and helped Pakistan maintain their dominance against the visitors with an eight-wicket win in the first of the three-match ODI series at the Southend Cricket Club Stadium in Karachi. The leggie returned impressive figures of 4 for 21 from her 10-over spell.
Sri Lanka, who were whitewashed in the T20I series preceding the one-dayers, elected to bat on Wednesday. However, barring a half-century stand between Prasadani Weerakkody and Nilakshi de Silva for the fourth wicket, the innings struggled to gather momentum. Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal had the latter caught behind, and Ghulam Fatima further punctured the innings with a couple of more quick strikes, reducing the visitors from 96 for 3 to 96 for 6. Weerakkody was stumped for 30 while Oshadi Ranasinghe was cleaned up for a duck.
Even as skipper Chamari Atthapatthu (39-ball 25) and Kavisha Dilhari (50-ball 49*) played fluent hands on either end of Sri Lanka’s innings, regular strikes didn’t allow them to break free. Sadia and Fatima Sana too contributed with a brace as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 169 in the 48th over.
Pakistan broke little sweat in chasing down the below-par score, despite losing opener Muneeba Ali early. The southpaw was caught behind off Achini Kulasuriya on 14 in the eighth over. However, Sidra Ameen, fresh from a century in the 50-over World Cup, continued to hold Pakistan’s innings strong in the company of skipper Bismah Maroof. The duo steadied the chase with a 143-run stand, Pakistan’s highest for the second wicket, before the former was bowled by Ranasinghe in the 42nd over. However, her 119-ball 76, which included seven hits to the fence, had taken Pakistan close to the victory mark by the time she was dismissed.
With only two more runs needed for a win, Omaima Sohail helped the side get over the line in the next four balls to help Pakistan get off to a winning start in the new cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship and secure a 1-nil lead in the three-match series. Bismah remained unbeaten on a 101-ball 62, her 16th ODI fifty, which included five boundaries.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 169 in 47.5 overs (Kavisha Dilhari 49*, Prasadani Weerakkody 30; Ghulam Fatima 4-21, Fatima Sana 2-24) lost to Sri Lanka 170/2 in 41.5 overs (Sidra Ameen 76, Bismah Maroof 62*; Achini Kulasuriya 1-13, Oshadi Ranasinghe 1-35) by 8 wickets.
Source: Cricbuzz