The upcoming Women’s World Cup in India will be played in a hybrid model as Pakistan have qualified for the tournament. They defeated Thailand in their penultimate game in World Cup qualifiers by 87 runs to register their fourth consecutive win.
Pakistan have qualified for the Women’s World Cup in India. They registered their fourth consecutive win in the Qualifiers on Thursday (April 17), beating Thailand by 87 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. With this development, it has been confirmed that the showpiece event in India, to be played later this year, will take place in a hybrid model, with Pakistan playing their set of matches at other venues.
As for the match, after opting to bat first, Pakistan were tied down by some extremely disciplined bowling by Thailand. They didn’t let the batters score runs freely and that resulted in wickets falling at regular intervals. The run-scoring was very tough and the hosts crossed the 100-run mark only in the 36th over.
Pakistan’s innings didn’t seem to be going anywhere until Sidra Amin and skipper Fatima Sana joined hands to add 97 runs for the fifth wicket. The former scored 80 runs off 105 deliveries, but it was Sana who provided the real impetus to the innings. She scored an unbeaten 62 off 59 balls with six fours and also smacked one of the only two sixes in the innings.
In response, Thailand got off to a swift start compared to Pakistan. But they kept losing wickets thanks to the trio of Sana, Rameen Shamim and Nashra Sandhu, who never let the batters settle. Six Thailand batters reached double digits, but none of them touched the 20-run mark as they got bowled out for 118 runs in the 35th over. Pakistan won the game by 87 runs to seal the World Cup qualification.
Meanwhile, the West Indies and Scotland are still in contention after the Caribbean side defeated Bangladesh, chasing down 228 runs with three wickets in hand. Scotland and the West Indies will have to win by a huge margin in their respective final games and hope that Pakistan beat Bangladesh as well.
West Indies have a realistic chance now to qualify but their NRR is -0.283 while Bangladesh boast of the NRR of 1.033. A thumping win is needed for them against Thailand as they will hope that Pakistan play their best cricket to beat Bangladesh.