Pakistan and India failed to advance past the Women’s T20 World Cup group stage. India’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals were dependent on Pakistan’s encounter against New Zealand. If Pakistan had won the match, India, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, would have advanced to the last four. Pakistan limited New Zealand to 110/6 in 20 overs before being dismissed for 56, the second-lowest total in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup. What was even worse was that Pakistan missed at least eight receptions. Basit Ali, a former member of Pakistan’s men’s national team, criticized their performance.
“Did it seem like the Pakistan cricket team? It appeared that Pakistan was playing badminton, not cricket. Our women’s cricket chairperson is a badminton player, which showed in the manner the squad performed. There were 11-12 simple catches dropped. Dolly, dolly, dolly. I’ve never seen such a team. Perhaps ten matches were lost, but I have never witnessed such bad catching. I was disappointed with Wasim. He adjusted the batting order. Why? You allowed them to win. Everyone was out of terrible shots. Basit Ali noted on his YouTube channel that Fatima Sana, despite losing her father, played the best.
Not that we lost, but how
Meanwhile, India’s Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh were rewarded for some of their strong performances at the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, moving them closer to the top of the ICC Women’s T20I Bowler rankings. The seasoned combination took 11 wickets for India in the T20 World Cup. Deepti moved up one spot, while Renuka jumped two places in the revised standings. The duo is now tied for third position on the T20I bowling list, behind England spinner Sophie Ecclestone and Pakistan’s Sadia Iqbal.
Ecclestone has taken four wickets in three matches in the ongoing campaign. She strengthened her lead over second-placed Iqbal to 19 rating points. Deepti and Renuka remain within striking distance.