Pakistan’s All-Rounder Fatima Sana Leads the Charge Against Sri Lanka in T20 World Cup 2024
Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 31 runs in a thrilling opening match of their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, their first victory over the Asia Cup winners in four meetings.
Sri Lanka struggled to collect runs against Pakistan’s spin attack, losing nine wickets and managing to reach only 85 runs while chasing a small goal of 117.
Key Performances and Match Results
Pakistan 116 (Sana 30, Dar 23, Athapaththu 3-18, Sugandika 3-19, Prabodhani 3-20) beat Sri Lanka 85 for 9 (Silva 22, Iqbal 3-17) by 31 runs.
Match Analysis
Pakistan defeated Asia Cup winners Sri Lanka for the first time in four encounters and began their campaign with victory at the T20 World Cup in 2024. Since the last T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka had been on a roll, winning three of the six bilateral T20I series and 22 of the 32 games played. However, on a sluggish, low Sharjah surface, Pakistan, who had lost four of their previous six series and sixteen of their past 27 games, had them beat.
Pakistan’s 116 seemed far short of what they should have scored, as run-scoring was laborious on the first day of the competition and scoring rates did not get above six an over. With the exception of skipper Fatima Sana, who batted at number seven, none of their top six players scored more than twenty-three.
Moreover, there were no partnerships in the top eight of over twenty-five. Left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari, left-arm armer Udeshika Prabodhani, and captain Chamari Athapaththu each took three wickets for Sri Lanka with their offspin.
Despite having the lowest batting performance of the four teams playing today, Sri Lanka would have been optimistic about winning based on their performance in the field. Spin held them down, especially Omaima Sohail’s off-spin and slow pace. The Sri Lankan batters were frequently far too early in their shots because the ball was travelling slowly in the air and staying low. In the thirteenth over, they were down to 52 for 5, and there was no way they could recover.
The World Cup didn’t see its first six until the third over of the second match, and that came from Muneeba Ali, the lone centurion in the format for Pakistan. Against Prabodhani, Sri Lanka’s lone seamer, she moved forward down the track and sent her sailing 63 yards over the midwicket boundary.
The Pakistan innings featured five fours and two more sixes on a day when boundaries were very hard to come by. In their innings, Sri Lanka managed just three fours. In the last match between Bangladesh and Scotland, there were only fifteen fours in the two innings and no sixes.
Athapaththu came in for a second over in the 14th over, having done a great job of applying pressure on Pakistan by getting rid of Sidra Amin and altering her bowling style. She camped on the back foot, caught behind, and her second ball was full outside off stump, taking Tuba Hassan’s outside edge.
After that, Pakistan’s final recognized batsman, finisher Aliya Riaz, had plenty of opportunity to capitalize, but she misplayed the next ball’s line and was struck by it on the front pad.
As she reviewed, Riaz started to walk away, and the ball-tracking showed that it was striking the middle and leg stump. Diana Baig edged the following ball, putting Athapaththu on a hat-trick, but wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani could not hold on. After four overs, Athapaththu concluded with three or eighteen.
Although she scored 30 runs off of 20 balls, which changed the game, it may be claimed that Sana committed a tactical error by batting at No. 7. She subsequently assumed significant responsibility with the ball. Sana chose to take over right away as Baig bowled just one ball before pulling up with what appeared to be a calf injury. When she pulled out her opposite number, she ended Baig’s over and continued to be active.
Driven Sana to more cover, where Sohail made a wonderful catch to her left, Athapaththu was caught off guard. When Athapaththu left the field, she struck her bat because she realized how serious the situation was. With the necessary rate already up at 6.50, Sri Lanka ended the powerplay on 26 for 2, having been knocked out by her dismissal.
Theoretically, the game was over when Vishmi Gunaratne struck Nashra Sandhu cleanly, sending him flying into Amin’s hands and leaving Sri Lanka 52 for 5.
However, this does not mean that the 19-year-old is to blame. It’s actually an example of the kind of shots that were being played out of anger as Pakistan’s spinners became harder and harder to get away from. While Pakistan was marginally better with 51 singles and 11 twos, it’s those tiny margins that matter. Sri Lanka scored 47 singles but only nine twos on a vast outfield.
