Women’s World Cup T20 2024 – Fatima Sana leads the way as Pakistan hand Sri Lanka a slip

Baig did not take part in the match again after collapsing during a run with what appeared to be an injury to his right calf, which was already severely strained, and Fatima came in to finish him off.

Pakistan was without Diana in the T20 World Cup in South Africa early last year after she broke her finger just before the tournament, but this time Fatima said she believes it was just cramps and “she will be fine for the next game.” “.

“When I got the position of captain, I decided that I would lead from the front, so it’s a big thing that I did today,” said Fatima. “Unfortunately we got injured early, I was under pressure at that time but so was Muneeba [Ali] and Nida [Dar] He told me that you have to come and do your job, so that’s an important thing because our whole team is looking at it.”

At just 22 years old, Fatima took over at Dar as captain in August. This was his fourth T20 match in charge.

“I would like to congratulate the captain of Pakistan, Fatima Sana,” said Athapaththu during his introduction after the match. “He played very good cricket and always led the way.”

Meanwhile, ‘who else but Athaphaththu?’ It’s been a question following Sri Lanka for a while now, with their captain enjoying a run of form dating back to mid-2023. Since his unbeaten 80 off 47 balls against New Zealand in Colombo in July last year, Athapaththu has scored 928 runs in T20Is at an average of 44.19 and a strike rate of 136.47, if compared to his career average of 110.77.

Athapaththu took a wicket in the powerplay and two more in as many balls as Pakistan looked to be bowled out in their 20 overs. They reached the end though when Udeshika Prabodhani – who also finished with three wickets – removed Sadia, caught by Gunaratne at mid off, with the last ball of the innings.

When Athapaththu comfortably blocked Sadia’s third ball to the boundary for point, the Sri Lankan fans could have been forgiven for thinking victory would have been quick. But that feeling faded in the third over of the chase when Fatima struck, enticing Athapaththu to attempt a lofted drive towards other cover.

With Sri Lanka’s wickets falling back – only Nilakshika Silva (22) and opener Vishmi Gunaratne (20 off 34) reached double figures – the run-rate didn’t explode and what would have happened if Athapaththu had stayed has become a question again.

Vishmi admitted that the Sri Lankan batsmen struggled with the low, slow Sharjah pitch and the lack of pace from Pakistan.

“It was not easy to get used to the conditions,” he said. “It was a low pitch and they didn’t give us the pace and it was very difficult after this.”

Both sides will expect to face tough tests in the coming days. Sri Lanka play defending champions Australia next, back in Sharjah on Saturday, and Pakistan play India in Dubai on Sunday.