Pakistan’s Women’s Cricket Team Claims Historic Victory, Secures Second Spot in ICC Women’s Championship
The Pakistan women’s cricket team players are happy and excited about winning against New Zealand in Christchurch.
After winning today’s match, Pakistan is now in the second spot in the ICC Women’s Championship.
On Monday, Pakistan’s women’s cricket team won against New Zealand by three runs in the Super Over of the third ODI at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. This marks the first-ever victory for the Women in Green over the White Ferns in any ODI match on New Zealand’s grounds.
After today’s victory, Pakistan has moved up to the second position in the ICC Women’s Championship with a total of 16 points from 18 matches. The Girls in Green were initially in the sixth position before the game.
Earlier today, the Green Shirts set a 12-run target in the super-over, thanks to Aliya Riaz’s excellent batting. They successfully defended this target as Sadia Iqbal made things tough for New Zealand batters, limiting them to eight runs.
While chasing a target of 252 runs, Pakistan faced two setbacks early on as they lost the wickets of Muneeba Ali and Sidra Ameen, reaching only 37 runs in 7.4 overs.
It seemed that the Green Shirts might face difficulties and keep losing wickets, but Bismah Maroof and Aliya Riaz’s partnership of 101 runs brought the visitors back into the game.
Riaz missed a well-deserved half-century by six runs, getting out to Jess Kerr after scoring 44 runs. However, Maroof showcased her skill, emerging as the top scorer with 68 runs, including five boundaries. She was honored as the Player of the Match.
Yet, it was Fatima Sana and Natalia Pervaiz’s rapid contributions in the lower order that brought Pakistan close to the target. Sana scored 36 runs off 33 balls, and Natalia posted 26 runs off 23 balls.
In the final over, Pakistan required eight runs from six balls with only one wicket remaining. However, Najiha Alvi played a crucial role, making valuable contributions at the last wicket, helping the visitors level the game and avoid a whitewash.
When they batted first, a strong performance from Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green with the bat propelled New Zealand to set a challenging target of 252 runs.
Kerr made 77 runs off 87 balls with 10 boundaries, while Green played an unbeaten innings, scoring 65 runs off 69 deliveries.
Captain Sophie Devine contributed 29 runs, and Suzie Bates scored 24, making them the other top scorers in the game.
The ODI series, which is part of the ICC Women’s Championship, ended with a score of 2-1 in favor of the White Ferns.
However, in a notable achievement during the tour, the Pakistan women’s team became the first Asian side to secure a T20I series victory against the White Ferns, winning the series 2-1.
