New Zealand, after losing to India and Australia, finally got on the points table with a solid 54-run win over Pakistan in the ICC Women’s World T20 2018.
Sophie Devine returned to a more familiar spot at the top of the batting order, and scored 32 in 31 balls, Suzie Bates added 35 in 31, Amy Satterthwaite and Katey Martin chipped in with 20s, and New Zealand put up 144/6.
It wasn’t a daunting target, but none of the Pakistan batters apart from Javeria Khan (36 in 23) really got going as Amelia Kerr returned 3/21 and Player of the Match Jess Watkin 3/9.
With Australia and India winning all three of their games so far, New Zealand’s run in the tournament is over.
For Pakistan, captaincy is certainly working out well for Javeria, who had also hit 74* in the game against Ireland, the only one Pakistan have won. This one didn’t go too well, like the ones against India and Australia.
“We were not this clinical with our bowling. We were good in patches, and throughout the match we didn’t field well. It was a good toss to win.
We should have restricted them under 110 to 115 because the pitch wasn’t offering much pace,” summed up Javeria.
The bowling wasn’t at its best, and the fielding was well below par – two catches were dropped in the 13th over, for example.
It has been a decent performance on the whole for Pakistan, with Javeria, Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar scoring half-centuries at different points, and the bowlers mostly holding their own. “I’ll be positive. The kind of cricket these girls have played … they have played better cricket throughout the World T20. We made mistakes, but we’ll grow as a unit with more matches we get,” said Javeria.
Pakistan won’t go further in the tournament, but have seen two of the top teams from up close: Australia and India. On the evidence in front of her, Javeria’s clear on who the tournament favourites are: Australia, “by far”.
Scores:
New Zealand Women 144-6 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 32, Suzie Bates 35, Amy Sattethwaite 26, Katey Martin 29, Sana Mir 2/36, Aliya Riaz 2/29)
Pakistan Women 90 in 18 overs (Javeria Khan 36, Amelia Kerr 3/21, Jess Watkin 3/9)
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