Pakistan in West Indies Jun/Jul 2021
Venue: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Format: T20I
Toss: West Indies
Result: West Indies by 10 runs
Pakistan Nearly Pull off a miracle
What seemed like an inevitable victory for the home team became a delicious possibility for the visitors in the first of three T20 Internationals between West Indies and Pakistan.
At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Stafanie Taylor won the toss for West Indies and elected to bat. Wayward bowling by the Pakistan fast bowlers allowed Deandra Dottin (31) and Hayley Matthews (32) to dominate during the first nine overs. Indeed it was a surprise that a wicket fell at all, but the Pakistan slow bowlers were far more accurate and penetrating, for shortly afterwards Dottin was dismissed, leaving the home side 67/2 in the tenth over.
The dismissal of captain Stafanie Taylor (11) exposed a middle order that did not score as freely as those who went before, save for Kyshona Knight (23) who played the stoke of the match when the left-hander produced an exquisite straight drive.
The West Indies were on target for 160+ but the good work by Nida Dar (2-15) and the fast bowlers Diana Baig (1-36) and Fatima Sana (2-32) for a second spell halted the scoring and held West Indies to 136/6.
Opening the bowling for West Indies, Shamilia Connell was wayward and expensive in the same manner as the Pakistan quicks. A word from the skipper after a loose delivery saw Shamilia remove Javeria Rauf, bowled, then Javeria Khan, bowled and then Nida Dar, bowled. By the time three overs were gone the fast bowler had completely ruined the Pakistan top order.
Wickets continued to tumble to leave Pakistan in dire straits at 57/6 in the 13th over. Then an almighty comeback by Ayesha Naseem (45*) and Fatima Sana (24*) both of whom shared an unbroken partnership of 69 runs. It was entertaining and thrilling as these two fought to win the match for Pakistan. Unfortunately the top order had left them far too much to do and Pakistan finished 10 runs short, 126/6.
The exciting finish augers well for the remainder of the series. For her destruction of the Pakistan top order, Shamilia Connell was named Player of the Match.
Scores:
West Indies 136/6 (Hayley Matthews 32, Deandra Dottin 31, Nida Dar 2-15, Fatima Sana 2-32) 20 overs
Pakistan 126/6 (Ayesha Naseem 45*, Shamilia Connell 3-21) 20 overs
Player of the Match: Shamilia Connell
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