Pakistan needed a big win to advance to the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals but they ended up conceding a massive defeat against New Zealand. Pakistan batters lost the plot in the run chase of 111 and were bowled out for 56, their lowest score in the history of the tournament. As Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament, former Pakistan cricket of the the men’s team, Basit Ali teared into their ordinary display against the White Ferns.
“It seemed like Pakistan were playing badminton, not cricket,” Basit made a sarcastic remark on his YouTube channel as he referred to head of Pakistan women’s cricket, Tania Mallick, who is a former national badminton champion. “Our women’s cricket chairperson is a badminton player, and it showed in the way the team played.”
Pakistan's bowlers were spot-on in executing their plans at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium but their fielders dropped as many as eight catches. Pakistan would have been chasing a smaller target had it not been for the dropped catches.
“Mashallah, 11-12 catches dropped, easy ones. Dolly, dolly, dolly!” a disappointed Basit said.
Captain Fatima Sana did not get support from the other end in the run chase. She scored 21 runs while other batters barring opener Muneeba Ali failed to score in double digits.
“Who got out on a good ball? Muneeba (Ali) played a cross-batted shot. They were getting run-out, playing bad shots,” he said.
The 53-year-old lauded Fatima who returned to the side days after her father's demise.
“Sana Fatima lost her father recently; she played the best knock,” he said.
Fatima disappointed with batters’ display
Fatima was critical of Pakistan’s batting as well. She feels that Pakistan won’t survive in the game if they don’t improve in the batting department.
“We were good in the bowling but we need to improve our fielding and batting. We were not up to the mark in batting and the seniors need to step up in that kind of matches. As a bowling unit we were up to the mark, but we need to improve in batting, otherwise we can't survive in women's cricket,” the 22-year-old said in the post-match presentation.
