Pakistan team to depart for Dunedin on Friday

 

New Zealand women defeat Pakistan by 28 runs in T20 Practice Match

Pakistan team to depart for Dunedin today

Pakistan women’s team will depart for Dunedin from Christchurch tomorrow morning to feature in the white-ball series against New Zealand. The three-match T20I series is scheduled to take place from 3 to 9 December in Dunedin and Queenstown, while the three ODIs – part of ICC Women’s Championship – will be held in Queenstown and Christchurch from 12 to 18 December.

New Zealand XI Women emerged victorious in a closely contested T20 practice match over Pakistan Women's Cricket Team by 28 runs. This match marked the second practice encounter for Pakistan Women on their ongoing tour of New Zealand.

Pakistan Women had previously secured a resounding 57-run victory in the first practice ODI match played on Tuesday.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, New Zealand XI Women amassed a competitive total of 168 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. GE Palmer emerged as the top scorer for the hosts, contributing a valuable 52 runs off 35 balls, including four boundaries and a six. ONGin provided further support with a knock of 28 runs.

Nida Dar, Nashera Sindhu, and Waheeda Akhtar were the standout bowlers for Pakistan Women, claiming two wickets each.

In pursuit of the challenging target, Pakistan Women managed to reach 140 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their 20 overs. Muniba Siddiqui top-scored for the visitors with a gritty 32 runs, laced with four boundaries. Najeha Alvi remained unbeaten on 19 runs.

NH Patel and KA Knight shared the bowling honors for New Zealand XI Women, each picking up two wickets.

The two teams also engaged in a super over to settle the match, with both sides scoring 10 runs in their respective innings. A second super over was subsequently played, in which New Zealand XI Women managed to post a total of 9 runs. Pakistan Women responded with an identical score of 9 runs, resulting in a tie in the super over.

The three-match T20 International series between Pakistan and New Zealand women's cricket teams will commence on December 3. The series will be preceded by three ODI matches, with the ODI series counting towards the ICC Women's Championship.

Since arriving in Christchurch on Saturday, 25 November, the 17-member squad led by Nida Dar took part in two practice sessions and played two practice games against New Zealand XI. In the 50-over practice match played at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln University on Tuesday, 28 November, Pakistan women’s team defeated New Zealand XI by 57 runs on the back of four wickets from captain Nida and crucial 38 runs in the lower-order from wicketkeeper-batter Najiha Alvi.

Following the match, both teams played a super over to provide additional practice and adapt to different T20 match situations. The super over was tied on both occasions, with both sides failing to achieve the required target set by the opposing side batting first.

Interim head coach Mauhtashim Rashid stated after the match: “We had good practice sessions and practice games here in Christchurch before the start of the series. Obviously, the conditions here are different, the players are trying to adopt to the conditions and these back-to-back matches are going to help the players to achieve that goal.

“We have tried our young players today in the T20 match as we are preparing for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup next year. We have young players coming forward, some are in Pakistan, and we plan to give more chances and exposure to those who are here, hoping they will gain valuable experience from it.”

Pakistan squad: Nida Dar (captain), Aliya Riaz, Bismah Maroof, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar

Series schedule:

3 Dec – 1st T20I, Dunedin (1pm local time)

5 Dec – 2nd T20I, Dunedin (1pm local time)

9 Dec – 3rd T20I, Queenstown (1pm local time)

12 Dec – 1st ODI, Queenstown (11am local time) (ICC Women’s Championship)

15 Dec – 2nd ODI, Christchurch (2pm local time) (ICC Women’s Championship)

18 Dec – 3rd ODI, Christchurch (2pm local time) (ICC Women’s Championship)