At the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Pakistan defeated UAE by 71 runs in the 17th game of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup thanks in large part to an unbeaten half-century from Aliya Riaz.
Pakistan’s victory guaranteed their position in the semi-final with eight points from four games and second place on the points chart.
UAE won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Green Shirts seized this opportunity and scored 145 runs before holding the UAE to 74-5 in 20 overs.
Fourth win of the tournament ????
A fine performance by Pakistan ????#PAKvUAE | #WomensAsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/v85J7KTjZm
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 9, 2022
Advertisement????️ Player of the match for her scintillating fifty, @aliya_riaz37 talks about her performance and looks ahead to the next match ????#BackOurGirls | #WomensAsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/sTK7x0GywA
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 9, 2022
UAE never seemed like they would be able to chase down the target of 145 runs, managing only 74 for five in their 20 overs.
Khushi Kumar scored the most for the team with a flawless 19-ball 20, which included two fours.
Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu, and Aiman Anwar each secured a wicket for Pakistan.
Thanks to Aliya’s 57 runs in 36 balls, Pakistan had previously scored 145 runs.
With 14 runs on the board, Pakistan lost their excellent opening batsman Sidra Amin (two off six) in the fourth over.
In the eighth over, Pakistan had 41 for three, putting them in trouble. Captain Bismah Maroof joined Muneeba, but the left-handed Bismah left without scoring after hitting seven off 12 balls, and Omaima Sohail was out on the first ball.
Along with Muneeba, the right-handed Aliya Riaz added a 36-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Muneeba hit five fours and a six to score 43 off 45 balls. The next two batters to fall were Ayesha Naseem (one of four) and Esha Oza, who finished with three wickets for 22 from her four overs.
Nida Dar joined Aliya in the middle with the score at 78 for five in 14.2 overs. For the sixth wicket, the two all-rounders put up an uninterrupted 67-run partnership off just 34 runs.
With a 36-ball 57 that included five fours and three sixes, Aliya returned unbeaten, while Nida scored 25 from 17 balls while hitting four boundaries.
Pakistan’s last group game will now be played against Sri Lanka on October 11.
In the first semi-final, the top team will face the fourth-ranked team, and the second semi-final will include the second- and third-placed teams from the group round.
