KARACHI, April 21: Pakistan women’s cricket team beat Sri Lanka Women by two wickets with 10 balls remaining in the first ODI of the Women’s Quadrangular Series played at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Thursday.
Excellent bowling spells by medium pacer Qanita Jalil and left-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf restricted Sri Lanka Women to 153 after their captain Shashikala Siriwardene won the toss and elected bat first.
Qanita took three wickets while giving away just 20 runs in the nine overs that she bowled. Her first victim, opener A.C. Jayagani, found herself clean bowled on the very first ball. Sadia bowled all 10 overs and took three for 29. Debutant left-arm medium pacer Masooma Junaid chipped in with two for 26. Sri Lanka were all out in 49.5 overs.
Pakistan Women easily chased the target thanks to some clever batting from vice captain Javeria Khan who remained 63 not out as she rapidly ran out of partners. Only skipper Sana Mir (20 off 43 balls) and Asmavia Iqbal (25 of 65 balls) were able to stay at the crease for a while. Wicketkeeper Batool Fatima was the fourth batswoman to reach double figures (13) as the extras added another twenty runs to the winners’ tally.
Pakistan Women team will be playing four ODIs (two with Sri Lanka and one each with Holland and Ireland) and three T20 matches (one with each team) during the series. Their next match is with the Netherlands on April 23.
Summarised scores:
Sri Lanka 153 in 49.5 overs (L.E. Kaushalya 35, H.M.D Rasangika 31, K.D.U. Prabodhani 19 not out, Qanita Jalil 3-20, Sadia Yousuf 3-29, Masooma Junaid 2-26); Pakistan 154-8 in 48.2 overs (Javeria Khan 63 not out, Sana Mir 20, Asmavia Iqbal 25, L.E. Kaushalya 3-23, Shashikala Siriwardene 3-29).
