In only fourth match since taking the captaincy, Fatima Sana played a vital role with bat and ball. At one point, it looked like Pakistan had no business escaping Sharjah with victory. All out for 116 in a lackluster innings where no one passed captain Fatima Sana‘s ultimately crucial 30 in 20 balls, as she batted down the order at No. 7, and losing opening bowler Diana Baig to injury one ball into their defence, Pakistan looked well out of the match halfway through.
Fatima Sana played a useful cameo down the order before Pakistan’s spinners tied down Sri Lanka on a slow-ish wicket in Sharjah to complete a resounding 31-run victory in the first T20 World Cup face off between these two teams in 10 years. Pakistan, who opted to bat first, were bowled out for 116 but successfully managed to keep Sri Lanka at bay, with the Asia Cup champions struggling and failing to find any momentum with the bat once Chamari Athapaththu fell early in the chase.
Pitch and Toss
Pitch report: “The temperature is dropping. Dimensions – straight down the ground is 73 meters. 59 and 62 on the square. Looks very firm and compact (the surface), bowlers will try to get a bit out of the pitch. Indifferent bounce might come into play,” reckon Lisa Sthalekar and Stacy Ann King.
Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana won the toss and chose to bat first with as much as four spinners in the Playing XI. Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu bowling first aimed at bowling out Pakistan cheaply in 1st innings
Skipper Fatima Sana shines with timely 30 runs to carry Pakistan to 116
Pakistan’s new captain Fatima Sana enjoyed an initial positive in her first moment in charge of the team at a major tournament, winning the toss and opting to bat first in Sharjah. But Sri Lanka’s bowlers kept Pakistan in check in the first innings, taking frequent wickets to restrict a batting order that proved unexpectedly fluid.
It was a strong start for the Asia Cup champions, who removed both openers through the impressive Sugandika Kumari, who had both Gull Feroza (2 from 4) and Muneeba Ali (11 from 14) caught behind to restrict Pakistan in the powerplay. And a middle-order recovery was unable to have a huge impact as Chamari Athapaththu removed Sidra Amin (12 from 10), before Omaima Sohail (18 from 19) and Nida Dar (23 from 22) were dismissed by Kavisha Dilhari and Udeshika Prabodhani respectively.
Pakistan’s batting strategy was clear to see as captain Fatima Sana and Aliya Riaz were pushed down the order, revealing their status as designated ‘finishers’, coming in at seven and eight respectively, two places lower than initially carded. But the prospect of a late flurry was impacted by Athapaththu’s double strike, as she removed Tuba Hassan and Riaz off consecutive deliveries, narrowly missing out on a hat-trick as she fizzed a gem past the outside edge of Diana Baig.
Wickets continued to tumble, but Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana did manage to boost her side to a three-figure total, slamming 30 runs off just 20 balls as she showed produced a sparkling cameo that set up a match-winning total of 116, with the final wicket falling to the last ball of the 20 overs.
There may have been questions about Fatima Sana’s decision to bat but the Pakistan captain stood vindicated with Sharjah seeing little to no dew in the second innings, thereby allowing her spinners to hold sway despite the loss of fast bowler Diana Baig to an apparent calf injury early in the target defence.
Incidentally, Athapaththu was happy to chase and had even set sights on restricting Pakistan to under 120. Her team came good on that count with a good bowling performance before Fatima Sana played the defining knock of the game right at the end.
True to their recent style, Pakistan tried to go hard while the fielding restrictions were in place but were constantly pegged back by wickets falling at regular intervals. Sugandika Kumari struck with the last ball of the second over thanks in large parts to a sharp catch behind the stumps by Anushka Sanjeewani to dismiss Gull Feroza.
Muneeba Ali swung left-arm medium-pacer Udeshika Prabodhani for a six before becoming the second batter to fall to Sugandika. This time too, it was Sanjeewani behind the stumps who held on to a tough catch after Muneeba got a big edge on an attempted cut to an arm ball from the left-arm spinner. Pakistan were three down for 32 inside the PowerPlay with Athapaththu completing a return catch after getting Sidra Amin to miscue an attempted slog.
Nida Dar and Omaima Sohail set about putting the innings back in order with a steady 25-run stand but just as Pakistan could begin to harbor hopes of pushing up the scoring rate they were pegged back once more. Kavisha Dilhari, who had been slog-swept for six earlier in the over, bowled a floaty delivery to Omaina, who ended up playing the sweep shot way too early and toe-edged a catch to square leg.
Prabodhani then returned to the attack and cleaned up Dar for 23 with a change-up around the wicket angle. In the next over, Athapaththu dismissed Tuba Hassan and Aliya Riaz off successive balls in the 14th over, the former to another excellent catch behind the stumps and the latter to a straightforward LBW decision.
At 74 for 7, which soon became 84 for 8, Pakistan seemed unlikely to even get to 100. But captain Sana led a fine rearguard with Nashra Sandhu for company. The ninth-wicket pair added 28 of which Sandhu contributed only 4 runs off 12 balls. Fatima Sana on the other hand struck three fours and a six and farmed strike expertly before she fell for a 20-ball 30 to the first ball of the final over. Pakistan managed to add only four more singles before they were bowled out off the last ball of the innings.
It took until the third over of the second match before the World Cup saw its first six and it came from Pakistan’s only centurion in the format: Muneeba Ali. She advanced down the track against Sri Lanka’s only seamer, Prabodhani, and sent her 63 meters over midwicket boundary.
On a day when boundaries were particularly scarce, there were two more sixes in the Pakistan innings to go with five fours. Sri Lanka’s innings featured only three fours. There were no sixes in the earlier game between Bangladesh and Scotland and just 15 fours across both innings.
After doing an excellent job in keeping pressure on Pakistan by taking the wicket of Sidra Amin and with her bowling changes, Athapaththu brought herself on for a second over in the 14th. Her second ball was full outside off stump and took Tuba Hassan’s outside edge as she camped on the back foot and was caught behind.
That brought Pakistan’s last recognized batter, finisher Aliya Riaz, to the crease with plenty of time to cash in but she missed the line of the next ball and was hit on the front pad. Riaz was walking off as she reviewed and the ball-tracking revealed it was hitting middle and leg stump. Athapaththu was on a hat-trick and came oh-so-close to getting it when Diana Baig edged the next ball but wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani could not hold on. Athapaththu finished with 3 or 18 from her four overs.
It could be argued that Fatima Sana made a tactical blunder by batting herself at No. 7 but she scored 30 off 20 balls, which ended up changing the game, and then took great responsibility with the ball. Baig only bowled one ball before she pulled up with what looked like a calf injury and Fatima Sana decided to take over immediately
She finished Baig’s over and kept herself on for more, when she took out her opposite number. Athapaththu was leaden-footed when she drove Sana to extra cover where Sohail took a good catch to her left. Athapaththu understood the magnitude of the moment and punched her bat as she walked off the field. Her dismissal sent Sri Lanka into a shell, and they finished the powerplay on 26 for 2, with the required rate already up at 6.50.
Sadia Iqbal, Fatima Sana bowls Pakistan to 31 runs victory over Sri Lanka
Pakistan’s bowling effort got off to a demoralizing start when Diana Baig pulled up after sending down the very first ball of the innings and was forced to depart the field with what looked a significant injury. But that was where the disappointment ended for Pakistan, as they turned in a superb display.
After Sana had picked up the crucial scalp of Athapaththu, Omaima Sohail joined in with two big wickets, cleaning up both Harshitha Samarawickrama (7 from 10) and Hasini Perera (8 from 10) to leave Sri Lanka in big trouble on 35/3 with the required rate climbing. And the spinners proved extremely hard for Sri Lanka to get away as the chase fizzled out under the lights in Sharjah.
Sadia Iqbal returned the best figures with 3/17, while Nashra Sandhu went for 2/15 from her four overs, as Pakistan’s slow bowlers tied Sri Lanka in knots. Just three boundaries were hit in the entirety of the innings as Sri Lanka suffered a loss that leaves their Group A campaign in serious trouble right at the start of the tournament, with some highly-ranked opponents to come.
Pakistan lost Baig to an injury after just one ball of the second innings but once again had their captain stepping up and making a mark. After bowling a pair of length balls, Fatima Sana slipped in a fuller delivery and got her opposite number, Athapaththu, to chip a catch to extra cover.
Omaima took over and dealt a double strike by cleaning up the in-form Harshitha Samarawickrama and Hasini Perera to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 35 for 3. The second of those dismissals was an off-spinner’s delight. It drifted into the left-handed Perera and then turned 4.7 degrees to spin past the bat and hit the top of off-stump.
Sandhu added two of her own wickets while Sadia Iqbal picked up three lower-order wickets as Sri Lanka’s batters struggled to find a way to force the pace. In fact, Sri Lanka managed only three boundaries in their innings and none at all after the eighth over as the game petered off to a predictable and insipid finish.
Buoyed by their efforts in the field, Sri Lanka would have fancied their chances of pulling off victory but fared the worst of the four teams in action today with the bat. They were tied down by spin, particularly Omaima Sohail’s offspin and lack of pace. With the ball moving slowly through the air and keeping low, the Sri Lanka batters were often far too early into their shots. They were reduced to 52 for 5 in the 13th over and there was no coming back from that.
It was game over, in theory, when Vishmi Gunaratne hit Nashra Sandhu straight down the ground and into the hands of Amin to leave Sri Lanka 52 for 5. But this is not to put the blame on the 19-year-old. Instead, it’s an illustration of the kinds of shots that were being played in frustration as the Pakistan spinners became more and more difficult to get away. On a big outfield, Sri Lanka scored 47 singles but only nine twos and while Pakistan were only marginally better with 51 singles and 11 twos, it’s those tiny margins that make a difference.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Fatima Sana the winning Pakistan skipper said : The whole management gave me a lot of confidence. We wanted to get a lot of runs on the board, and we wanted to achieve the maximum target we could. (On Diana Baig) She was injured and I was nervous because she is one of her main bowlers. So I had to come in and bowl, I will ask her how she is now. We need to build on this momentum and win as many games as possible.
Chamari Athapaththu the losing Sri Lanka skipper said : Firstly, want to congratulate Fatima Sana. She was really leading from the front. We struggled to chase 120, we have to adjust to these conditions, can’t complain. We bowled well but we need to bat really good as well in these conditions.
I feel it is tricky because the wicket is slow and low, and the outfield is tricky as well. We need to play positive, fearless cricket and have the right approach. We know Australia is a very good team but if we play our best cricket, we can beat anyone. Just need to adjust to these conditions quickly.
Fatima Sana also got Player of the match award for her all round efforts said : Very excited, thanks to the team and the management. All credit goes to them. I believed in myself and backed myself to stay calm. We know Chamari is a good player, and we knew if we got the early wicket then we can make a good start.
What a splendid bowling performance this has been from Pakistan. It felt like they had an under par total bowling second at Sharjah, but Fatima Sana dismissed Chamari Athapaththu early and it was all downhill from there for Sri Lanka. The Asian champions got just three boundaries in the powerplay, losing a couple of wickets as well.
Omaima Sohail and Nida Dar kept things tight, as the rate began to climb and Sri Lanka had no answers. Their batters lacked inventiveness as well, overplaying the sweep shot which made it easy for Pakistan to set fields. The pitch got slower which helped Pakistan as well who bowled 17 overs of spin. Sri Lanka were never really in the chase and in the end succumbed to a 31-run loss.
Pakistan secured their first win in four meetings against Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka and opened their campaign with a win at T20 World Cup 2024. Sri Lanka had been riding a wave of success since the last T20 World Cup, winning three out of six bilateral T20I series and 22 out of 32 games, but Pakistan, who had lost four out of their last six series and 16 out of 27 games, had the measure of them on a slow, low Sharjah pitch.
Run-scoring was labored on the opening day of the tournament and scoring rates did not get above six an over but Pakistan’s 116 still looked well below par. None of their top six scored more than 23, there were no partnerships in the top eight of over 25, and captain Fatima Sana, batting at No. 7, was the top scorer with 30. For Sri Lanka, left-armer Udeshika Prabodhani, left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari and captain Chamari Athapaththu, with her offspin, picked up three wickets each.