Pakistan women have defeated Bangladesh in the third-place playoff to end up with a bronze medal at the Asian Games.
Fatima Sana and Um-e-Hani take Pakistan over the line
The win was orchestrated largely by Pakistan captain Fatima Sana, who struck a 30-ball 45 to give the team a defendable target. This, paired with Um-e-Hani’s brilliant bowling and Bangladesh’s tendency to play more dot balls than they can afford, eventually handed Pakistan the win.
Batting first, Pakistan had a calm powerplay, where they scored 46 for the loss of just one wicket, though the run-scoring came a tad slowly. Shawaal Zulfiqar, who scored 54 runs in the last game, took up 17 balls in the powerplay to score just 11 runs. Her run-to-ball ratio did not increase, further slowing down the run-scoring. Gull Feroza, meanwhile, played a polar opposite innings. She put up a quick 23-ball 31. Nahida Akter sent her packing in the seventh over.
Fatima Sana and Aliya Riaz build Pakistan’s total
This was followed by a quick fall of wickets, with Saira Jabeen, Ayesha Zafar, and Eyman Fatima cutting sorry figures. None of these batters crossed into double figures, and by the time Zafar departed, half the team was back in the hut for just 67 runs.
In came Fatima Sana, who joined Aliya Riaz and began the remedial work right away with a six to Nahida Akter. Aliya and Fatima stitched a 67-run partnership off just 43 balls. Fatima Sana scored 39 of these runs off just 26 balls, including three sixes. Pakistan ended with a 145-run total, which seemed good enough for their bowlers to work with.
And work they did, as they grabbed three wickets in the powerplay, conceding just 25 runs, thanks to Um-e-Hani’s off-spin, which got her two wickets in her first two overs. The scoring rate reduced further after the powerplay, while the required rate kept surging. At the halfway mark, Bangladesh only had 48 runs to show for it, with their batters scoring dreadfully slow. Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana had both scored 15 and 13 off 21 and 22 balls respectively. They did eventually catch up somewhat, but the damage had been inflicted deeply by that point.
The slow run-scoring was followed by three consecutive falls of wickets in three overs, taking the game all but away from Bangladesh’s grasp. Pakistan eventually closed the game by 31 runs and bagged the bronze medal.
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