ISLAMABAD: Omaima Sohail’s maiden five-wicket haul led Pakistan to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the 21st fixture of the ACC Women’s Asia Cup at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS) on Tuesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.
This was Pakistan’s fifth win from six outings in the tournament. The win also confirms that Pakistan finished second on the points table with 10 points. They will now take on Sri Lanka, who finished the table in third position, in the second semifinal, which will take place on Thursday, October 13.
The first semifinal will be played between India and Thailand on the same day in the morning.
“The right-arm off-spinner Omaima – who had taken seven wickets from 36 T20Is before today’s match was introduced in the bowling by the captain as a fifth bowler and came into bowl in the eighth over of the innings,” PCB said. “She got the wicket in her first over, getting Nilakshi de Silva for naught. In her next two overs, she bagged two wickets each in an over and ended up with match figures of 4-0-13-5.”
The spin twins, Nida Dar and Tuba Hasan, shared three wickets between them, and Sri Lanka were dismissed for 112 in the 19th over. For Sri Lanka, their captain Chamari Athapaththu top-scored with a 26-ball 41, which included nine fours.
“In reply, the opening pair of Muneeba Ali and Sidra Amin provided a 28-run start in 4.1 overs,” PCB said. “After the departure of Sidra for run-a-ball 13 which included two fours, Pakistan batters continue to return back to the hut as Pakistan at one point were struggling at 51 for four in 9.2 overs. Nida was joined by Aliya Riaz and the pair added a crucial 45-run partnership for the fifth wicket.”
After the departure of Aliya (20, 26b, three fours), Ayesha Naseem joined Nida in the middle and helped Pakistan achieve the target on the penultimate ball of the 19th over. The right-handed batter Ayesha scored an unbeaten 16 off five balls, which included two sixes struck in the 19th over to finish the match.
Nida returned undefeated on 26 off 28, hitting one four, and knitted 17 runs for the sixth wicket with Ayesha.
