Nashra excels as Pakistan women beat Hong Kong to enter semis

Nashra Sandhu bowled a splendid spell after Shawaal Zulfiqar scored a fighting 47 as Pakistan defeated Hong Kong by 72 runs to reach the semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai.

After posting a fighting total of 143, Pakistan bundled out Hong Kong for a paltry 71. Hong Kong batters once again let them down after Joyleen Kaur-led bowlers produced another impressive performance.

Pakistan’s Nashra bulldozed the fragile middle-order of Hong Kong with a six-wicket haul. Hong Kong were never in chase as they lost the first two wickets with just one run on the board.

It was captain Fatima Sana, who triggered the collapse with the dismissal of opener Mariko Hill. After that, Hong Kong could never get their innings back on track and kept on losing the wickets in bundle.

Nashra accounted for the dismissal of six batters. She caught Yasmin Daswani off her own bowling, uprooted the stumps of Marina Lamplough, Alison Siu and Iqra Sahar after getting Maryam Bibi and Shanzeen Shahzad caught by Sadaf Shamas and Sadia Iqbal respectively to complete her six-wicket haul.

None of the Hong Kong batters could show any kind of resistance against Sandhu. It was an abject surrender by Hong Kong batters except Chan, who scored a fighting 30 to salvage some pride.

Earlier, much of Pakistan's batting revolved around Shawaal and Fatima Sana. It was much of a collapse for Pakistan again as none of their batters could reach the 20-run mark except Sahwaal and Fatima.

Muneeba dragged a rising ball onto her stumps. She tried to pull a short delivery but the ball took the inside edge and took the bails away as Pakistan lost their first wicket.

Two overs later, Chan trapped Gull Feroza to give Hong Kong a second breakthrough. Feroza tried to sweep a straight delivery and completely missed the ball. It went on to hit her pads right in front of the stumps.

Two wickets within 10 runs triggered the fears of another collapse. Pakistan had lost nine wickets against India in just 27 runs. But Hong Kong bowlers could not keep the pressure on.

They bowled quite a few deliveries and Pakistan batters capitalised on the opportunities. After dismissing Feroza off the first ball, Chan got hit for two consecutive boundaries on the next two deliveries, which took the pressure off new batter Ayesha Zafar, who came in at number four

With two boundaries, Ayesha grew in confidence and got into the groove quickly. Ayesha and Shawaal started building the innings slowly. They batted sensibly and kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and couples.

All the while the pair did not miss any chance to dispatch loose deliveries to the boundary rope. They were cruising nicely. Hong Kong blowers tried too hard to take wickets and flighted the ball too much. But they could not keep the ball under control.

Hong Kong spinners flighted the ball too much which gave Pakistani batters ample time to play their shots. Shawaal and Ayesha added 47 runs for the fourth wicket in just 5.4 overs.

Hong Kong were desperately looking to break the partnership. Joyleen Kaur finally broke the dangerous-looking partnership to bring some relief to the Hong Kong camp.

Joyleen lured Ayesha with a flighted delivery outside off. Ayehsa gave herself room to play a square cut but she miscued the shot and the ball landed in the safe hands of Bibi.

The dismissal of Ayesha opened the floodgates for Joyleen, who ripped through Pakistan's middle order. She deceived Shawaal with the pace.

Joyleen dropped the pace, inviting Sahwaal to play in the air. Shawaal could not get under the ball and played it back into the hands of Joyleen.

Shawaal fell three runs short of her fifty, smashing six boundaries during her stay at the crease. Pakistan lost the fourth wicket. After taking two wickets in quick succession, Joyleen’s confidence skyrocketed.

Joyleen experimented more with her flights. She tempted Sadaf Shamas with another tempting ball, making her play it over the bowler’s head. Sadaf could not get enough power and was caught by Lamplough as Joyleen picked up her fourth wicket.

Captain Fatima was reduced to mere a spectator. She was watching helplessly from one end as the wickets kept on falling. But Joyleen had no plans to stop the carnage.

She bowled a quicker one to Eyman Fatima. The ball skid off the pitch, took a sharp turn from outside the off and thudded into her pads as Pakistan were reduced from 80/2 to 101/6. Joyleen completed her five-wicket haul.

With still almost seven and only four wickets left, Pakistan needed someone to play through the innings. Skipper found a perfect support from Tuba Hasan.

Both the batters knuckled down to avert the danger of being all out. They added 26 runs for the seventh wicket before Chan rattled the stumps of Tuba to make it 127/8.Umm-e-Hani became the second victim of Iqra. Fatima remained unbeaten on 24 and took the score to a fighting total of 143/8.