LAHORE - Opener Gull Feroza smacked her second consecutive half-century to steer Pakistan to a comprehensive 10-wicket triumph over United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their Women’s Asia Cup T20 2024 encounter at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Tuesday.
Opting to field first, Pakistan bowlers made early inroads into the UAE batting restricting them to103-8 in 20 overs. Pakistan in their chase galloped to 107 without loss in 14.1 overs, with 35 balls to spare. Pakistan Women have taken a significant step forward towards improving their chance of securing a semi-final berth.
It was Pakistan openers Gul Feroza and Muneeba Ali, who continued their good form from their previous game against Nepal and maintained it in their final league match against UAE. The two opening batters remained stitched unbeaten partnership of 107 runs, which is also the second century partnership between the pair after they made 105 runs in the previous match.
Gull who reached her second successive fifty in 46 balls went on to score career best unbeaten 62. Her 55-ball innings was also laced with eight boundaries. Her opening partner, Muneeba got unbeaten 37 on board that came off 30 balls. She also timed the ball through the ropes four times.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Nida Dar invited UAE to bat first and Nashra Sandhu provided them with the first breakthrough in 6.5 overs. Theertha Satish played a stable innings of 40 runs from 36 balls with the help of five boundaries, however, she could not get any support from the other end.
Tuba Hassan bowled Satish in the 15th over with 74 runs on the board. UAE kept losing wickets and managed to score 103-8 in their 20 overs. Other than Satish, only Esha Oza (16) and Khushi Sharma (12) managed to reach double figures. Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sundhu and Tuba Hassan were the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, claiming two wickets each for 11, 22 and 17 runs respectively.
Gul Feroza emerged as the player of the match. “I am just enjoying my game. The plan is to achieve success. I took confidence from the fifty in the last game. It was an achievable score, so I tried my best.”
Pakistan captain Nida Dar commented: “I spoke to the batting unit about showing intent. Against India, we didn’t execute our plans well. But we worked on our batting strategy. Sometimes it’s about sticking to the plan, sometimes it’s about giving others a chance, which is why I introduced myself late into the attack.”
UAE captain Esha Oza shared her thoughts: “Every game is a learning experience. In a short tournament, it’s important to put your best foot forward. Assessing the pitch, a score of 140 or 150 would have been ideal. We created opportunities; it was about capitalizing on them. Our team has grown significantly. We’ve only gotten better.”
SCORES IN BRIEF
PAKISTAN WOMEN 107-0
(Gull Feroza 62*, Muneeba
Ali 37*) beat UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES WOMEN 103-8,
20 overs (Theertha Satish 40,
Esha Oza 16, Khushi Sharma
12; Sadia Iqbal 2-11, Tuba
Hassan 2-17, Nashra Sundhu
2-22) by 10 wickets.
