Pakistan had an uninspiring outing against India as they lost the plot midway to lose the match by 64 runs.
Dropped catches and toothless bowling
There were several points at which the game slipped out of the side’s hands, but none more than Aliya Riaz dropping Smriti Mandhana, India’s top-scorer in the game, at mid-off.
Additionally, Pakistan’s Tasmia Rubab went berserk with the ball in the 19th over as she conceded 23 runs, putting her side on the back foot. In Tasmia’s defence, she was bowling to Richa Ghosh, who has just found her groove back and benefited from the fielding restriction, which brought an extra fielder inside the circle due to Pakistan’s slow over rate.
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said all these factors snowballed into what eventually hurt her side, though she hopes this will be a learning experience for her team as they gear up to play against teams like Australia and South Africa next.
“Catches win matches but unfortunately, the senior players dropped catches. We need to improve in bowling and catching. We will try and execute our plans as soon as possible.”
“We were good till the last few overs, but we got sloppy. The one extra fielder coming in also affected us,” said Fatima at the post-match presentation.
“It might be because of lefty-right combination. It is a young side and they will learn,” she added.
Pakistan’s theatrical collapse
Pakistan suffered a dramatic collapse as India’s spin trio pinned them against the wall. They were 51 for the loss of one wicket at the end of the powerplay. For the next 55 runs, Pakistan lost all their remaining nine batters in eleven overs. Fatima acknowledged that her side performed well in the powerplay across both innings but lost the momentum in the later stages.
“The batting side was very disappointing. We need to step up as we have a long way to go,” Fatima continued.
“Our powerplay, we won with bat and ball. But we collapsed with the bat and we need to improve there,” she added.
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