Player of the Match
Player of the Match

There we have it, a feel-good win for Pakistan. Commiserations to the West Indies but they have earned themselves another opportunity, which will come against South Africa to amend their errors and, ideally, bat better. For now, here is the Points Table and the traffic is high from the third to the sixth spot. This tournament has bloomed elegantly and is putting Women's cricket not just on the map but in hotspots. Thanks for sticking to our coverage despite the rains and delays. The comments during the breaks were effervescent, thoughtful, and delightful. I, Ekanth, will post a few more comments and am signing off on behalf of my co-commentator, the very generous Srivathsa Vennelaganti, S Sudarshanan, whose report will be coming up, and our scorer, Binoy George.

Tautoru: "What a great result, what a tournament. Something for everyone."

Pradeep: "Doesn't this result boost India's chances of semis?" It does, along with England's and keeps New Zealand just in the hunt, mathematically at least.

Vaibhav Athalye: "Mid-table muddle thickens with this amazing victory from Pakistan"

Sheldon: "It is strange that after such a good performance with the ball last game Taylor did not bowl one over"

Pranay: "Always good to see underdogs upsetting the (relatively) mighty!"

Peanut: "Thank you Pakistan! With love, a protea supporter."

Here's a polite enquiry to send in your #PoliteEnquiries. Go on the tweeter, use the hashtag, and get your rejoinders from Annesha Ghosh and Firdose Moonda

Bismah Maroof, Pakistan Captain: Feel relief, we wanted to win that badly. We were doing well but could not cross the line. Credit to the girls, we'll look to go onwards and upwards. The spinners enjoyed the game, think of the process and not the result ball by ball. With the bat, the talk between me and Muneeba was on taking pressure and pick the balls to hit. She scored well and was brilliant. We wanted this win, we were make small mistakes in finishing moments but will take this momentum forward. Stafanie Taylor, West Indies Captain: Hayley and Dottin were looking at a total of 125. But when I got in, 110-115 seemed a good target. But we couldn't get there. (On the batting not clicking) The way we played against Bangladesh's spinners where we could not rotate strike happened again. But to get ourselves going, we could not turn over the strike. Pakistan bowled really well, with Nida and Anam, who kept it to 6 six runs were brilliant. It's a do-or-die situation against South Africa so we have to come up high.

This innings has shown the benefits of agility training. There were quick singles throughout the innings. The willingness to go after the bowling after being bogged down, be it from Muneeba, Bismah, or Omaima, was perfect for chasing a low but tricky score. They did get away with a few shots that landed safely but one can argue that the luck had been created or supplemented by proactive batting after an excellent outing with the ball. West Indies lost the game with the bat, they have managed to sneak through a couple of times despite putting up below par scores but with the wet outfield and the ball friendzoning the edges to fall safe, they could not pull things back. The win was well-deserved for Pakistan, this tournament continues to thrill, entertain, and spread joy generously.

Nida Dar, Player of the Match for her spell of 4-0-10-4 says the team looked forward to coming on the field after waiting on a bad-weather day. She's happy to have played her role well. As a senior player, she understands she's a role model of the team and is pleased to have performed well. She confesses she's a fan of Shahid and Shaheen Afridi and modeled her celebration after theirs.

10:06 pm: The smiles in Pakistan's camp is lighting up Hamilton after a dark, stormy day. Hugs and handshakes are layered by a sense of calming relief. The 18 loss streak in the WWC is over for Pakistan Sudarshanan pings stats from Sampath, "Pakistan's last win was also against West Indies back in the 2009 edition - 13 years and 7 days (4755 days). Bismah Maroof the only common player in both those WC wins" They set-up the game with the ball and ran their way through victory with the bat.

18.5
1
Selman to Omaima Sohail, 1 run, Sweeps it over mid-wicket off the top edge. All that matters is that the run is completed. West Indies are distraught.
18.4
0
Selman to Omaima Sohail, no run, Full outside off, comes in slightly to cut the batter in half as she tried to drive it towards mid-off. Beaten
18.3
1
Selman to Bismah Maroof, 1 run, Full outside off, driven beautifully to the right of West Indies. The fielder, put under pressure, fumbles it and they get a single. Quick as always as the scores get tied
18.2
0
Selman to Bismah Maroof, no run, Full outside off, driven to cover-point
18.2
1w
Selman to Bismah Maroof, 1 wide, Full outside off but Selman misses her line as it goes well past the tramline, she grunts in frustration
18.1
1
Selman to Omaima Sohail, 1 run, Driven to the right of mid-off is the full ball. The fielder runs in and misses the direct hit as they pinch another quintessential quick single

Over the wicket

END OF OVER:
18 | 7 Runs | PAK-W: 86/2 (4 runs required from 32 overs, RR: 4.77, RRR: 0.12)

  • Omaima Sohail20 (24b)
  • Bismah Maroof19 (27b)
  • Deandra Dottin1-0-7-0
  • Shakera Selman3-0-11-1

Sajib: "West Indies will have only themselves to blame for if they fail to make it to the semis. Their performances in the last 2 matches have been shambolic."

Sajib: "West Indies will have only themselves to blame for if they fail to make it to the semis. Their performances in the last 2 matches have been shambolic."

Stephen: "A little flicker of hope for NZ fans if Pakistan can pull this off."

Nomi: "Sorry Santo, totally disagree Bisma's style is for old cricket and that's why Pak lose two close matches with such disruptive strike rate."

17.6
1
Dottin to Omaima Sohail, 1 run, Length on the stumps, slaps the pull to deep mid-wicket
17.5
0
Dottin to Omaima Sohail, no run, Low full toss around off, driven to the left of the bowler who stops it
17.4
0
Dottin to Omaima Sohail, no run, Full outside off, driven to point with the opening bat-face. Loud call of 'no!' comes immediately
17.3
2
Dottin to Omaima Sohail, 2 runs, Full outside off, driven to cover who misfields it to her left. They take two and cheers from Pakistan's team and support staff is palpable
17.2
2
Dottin to Omaima Sohail, 2 runs, Full toss on the stumps, the wetness of the ball is manifesting its effects. Its pulled behind square. The flight of the ball was higher than the contact point would have suggested
17.1
2
Dottin to Omaima Sohail, 2 runs, Low full toss on the legs, the leading edge off the sweep was in the air for a while but fell in front of Anisa who was running in from deep-fine leg to her left

The wishing wells have responded. Dottin comes in, probably a bit too late (maybe better than never). She starts over the wicket

END OF OVER:
17 | 2 Runs | PAK-W: 79/2 (11 runs required from 33 overs, RR: 4.64, RRR: 0.33)

  • Omaima Sohail13 (18b)
  • Bismah Maroof19 (27b)
  • Shakera Selman3-0-11-1
  • Afy Fletcher4-0-23-1

farazhaider: "pitch got easy in second inning or westindies bowling was not as good as pakistan?" The running has been the highlight. There is spin and extra bounce but timely boundaries have come with the odd slice of luck going for Pakistan as well

Ashish: "With only 1 boundary hit between these two, it really shows the temperament shown by them "

16.6
1
Selman to Omaima Sohail, 1 run, Full on leg-stump, squeezes the full-fledged flick off the inside half to deep square-leg

Santo: "we are talking about a lot of pakistan girls' slowness while batting.. but it was surpirsing that bismah's silent contribution has gone unnoticed.. she s been a rock for them except the first game and its amazing to see her rotation of strike and occassional innovative shots! really her coming back is a blessing in disguise of the pakistan team regardless of the results.. "

16.5
0
Selman to Omaima Sohail, no run, Fullish ball on the stumps, pushed to the bowler, just to her right
16.4
0
Selman to Omaima Sohail, no run, Full on the stumps, check driven back to the bowler's left off the inside half of the slightly open-faced bat. She throws it back outside off

Umair : "This would be quite a challenge for Pakistan team to lose from here "

16.3
0
Selman to Omaima Sohail, no run, Full outside off, pushed towards cover

PAK Women 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st22Sidra AmeenMuneeba Ali
2nd35Bismah MaroofMuneeba Ali
3rd33Bismah MaroofOmaima Sohail