Pakistan suffered a massive 114-run loss to England during their 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Group B match at the Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday, February 21. During the game, an incident took place which saw the Pakistani player receive a five-run penalty.
Fatima Sana was bowling to Player of the Match Nat Sciver-Brunt in what was the penultimate ball of an already expensive 15th over in the English innings. The Pakistani pacer went for a Yorker as Nat Sciver-Brunt played a lap shot towards the fine-leg fielder. The Mumbai Indians (MI) batter took two runs and the fielder threw the ball to the keeper Sidra Nawaz.
Nawaz took off her gloves to collect the ball, but in doing so, dropped it on the discarded glove that was lying on the ground.
The final decision was taken in unison by the on-field umpires, who handed Pakistan five penalty runs. Although these runs did not affect the result of the match, in the long run, it might have prevented an unpleasant record from being added to their name.
The 114-run margin is the highest-ever victory margin by runs in this competition, even going above New Zealand's 102-run victory over Sri Lanka earlier in the World Cup. Riding on Natalie Sciver-Brunt's unbeaten 81 off 40 and Danni Wyatt's 59 off 33, the Englishwomen scored 213 runs for the loss of five wickets. Wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones' innings of 47 off 31 were also crucial to this score, which is the highest-ever total in the history of the Women's T20 World Cup.
The Pakistani batters never came close to reaching the target and lost crucial wickets early in their innings in the absence of injured skipper and star batter Bismah Maroof. Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Charlie Dean bagged two wickets each as the Pakistani women were limited to 99 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.
