Pakistan Women Fail to Deliver in Sri Lanka
News Desk
Islamabad: Pakistan Women’s cricket team ended its tour of Sri Lanka with a morale-boosting victory in the final T20I, but it was not enough to prevent another disappointing series defeat after already losing the One-Day International (ODI) series.
After suffering a 2-1 defeat in the three-match ODI series under captain Fatima Sana, Pakistan, led by Muniba Ali in the T20Is, also lost the three-match series by the same margin.
The visitors signed off on a positive note in the third and final T20I in Dambulla, chasing down Sri Lanka’s total of 113-6 with four wickets in hand and 10 balls to spare. However, defeats in the opening two matches—both by six wickets, had already handed the series to the hosts.
Pakistan’s ODI campaign followed a similar pattern. The team began with a five-wicket victory in Hambantota but failed to maintain momentum, losing the remaining two matches by eight wickets each to concede the series 2-1.
Despite the overall result, a few individual performances stood out. Experienced batter Sidra Amin, who had been omitted from Pakistan’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup squad, was the top scorer in the ODI series with 217 runs, including a century and a half-century. Gul Feroza also impressed, scoring 145 runs with one fifty.
However, Pakistan’s batting lacked depth, with no other player reaching the 100-run mark during the ODI series. The bowling unit also struggled to make regular breakthroughs, as Nashra Sandhu claimed four wickets across three matches, while captain Fatima Sana managed only three.
In the T20 series, Shawal Zulfiqar emerged as Pakistan’s leading batter with 132 runs, including the team’s only half-century of the series. Captain Muniba Ali contributed 106 runs, but no other batter crossed the 100-run milestone.
With the ball, Umme Hani and Nashra Sandhu were the most successful bowlers, taking four and three wickets respectively.
While the victory in the final T20I provided a positive finish to the tour, Pakistan’s inability to convert promising starts into series wins will remain a concern as the team looks ahead to future international assignments.
