Pakistan won the scalp of the West Indies when it outperformed the 2016 winners and began its ICC women’s T20 World Cup campaign with a win over eight wickets in Canberra.
Sharp New Ball bowling by Diana Baig triggered a fight in the Windies top order, and only when Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle were at the fold did they look fluent. In the end, they posted 124/7.
Pakistani openers Javeria Khan and Muneeba Ali expertly controlled the chase and put on 58 before Captain Bismah Maroof’s undefeated 38 led their team to their seventh win at the T20 Women’s World Cup.
Nerveless chase from Pakistan, who open their #T20WorldCup with a spectacular win against 2016 champions West Indies 🔥👏
— ICC (@ICC) February 26, 2020
How impressive was that! #WIvPAK 📝 https://t.co/1iuW8i4B0h pic.twitter.com/CyS5XWS9yg
The Windies’ top order stalled and was three doors down in seven overs in the second game in a row. Hayley Matthews, star of the 2016 T20 Women’s World Cup final, fell in love with a diamond duck when Diana blew the first ball of the game in the air and rapped the opener on the pads.
Lee-Ann Kirby’s stand-and-deliver approach had three quick limits when she lofted Aiman Anwar for four in the middle of the off and then covered in the fourth over. But she died on the first ball of the fifth when she missed Muneeba Ali at one point and left for 16.
Deandrea Dottin’s restless wrinkle end ended when she tried to pull Nida Dar over the stump from the outside and could only find Iram Javed, who left for 1 in 10 balls.
43 runs, one wicket and a ⚡ fielding performance!
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) February 26, 2020
Her side might've lost, but Stafanie Taylor remained a rock for West Indies 👏#WIvPAK | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/s8NjIEEoTy
The experienced duo Taylor and Campbelle stabilized the ship. Campbelle, who played T20I games against Thailand for a century, missed an attempted setback against Anam Amin, and although Bismah’s transfer was not made on the field, she chose £ 43.
All-rounder Chinelle Henry was unable to settle and fell on her fourth ball when Anam got a catch, but she left when she was trapped for four pounds against Aiman Anwar on the other side of the line. Taylor dropped her foot on lap 18, carted Aiman’s low full throw over the center of the wicket, and was clearing the long line from Dar before picking Diana on the cow corner fence for 43 of 47 balls.
Pakistan’s opening couple was cautious at the start of their response. The thick edges of the slip cordon made three boundaries within the first four overs when they reached 28. Henry’s medium pace caused few problems when Javeria cut it and then pulled the rope, and Muneeba intervened with a steady drive when the over 14 runs lasted.
Taylor turned to turn after the powerplay, but Javeria was well-positioned and took the boundaries of Matthews and then Afy Fletcher twice. The Windies skipper needed it to remove Javeria, who misjudged the length of a straight and left lbw for a well-made 35.
Muneeba, whose opening partnership of 58 with Javeria Pakistan’s highest stand on the first wicket of the tournament, was unable to select Fletchers Googly on the 25th and could only compete against Anisa Mohammed at Midwicket.
Bismah took 24 balls to find her first boundary but continued to use her sweep well to spin and hit hard behind the square. Nida Dar provided composed support with errors from Taylor and Nation that were symptomatic of a disappointing Windies field display.
Pakistan was unconcerned in the closing stages, and Bismah reached the winning limit when its 50 runs partnership with Bismah paved the way for a memorable win.
