Pakistan suffer setback in Women's T20 World Cup warm-up

DUBAI: Scotland beat Pakistan by eight wickets in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up match on Saturday at Dubai’s Sevens Stadium.

Chasing 133, Scotland knocked the winning runs for the loss of just two wickets and 12 balls to spare, courtesy of a strong provided by their openers Saskia Horley and Sarah Bryce.

The opening pair put Scotland upfront with a 74-run stand, which spanned until the 12th over.

Spinner Nashra Sandhu provided Pakistan with a much-needed breakthrough when she got rid of Horley, who scored 48 off 42 with the help of six boundaries.

Skipper Kathryn (18) then joined Sarah in the middle and had put Scotland in touching distance but got run out in the 18th over when her side needed just one run.

Sarah top-scored for Scotland with an unbeaten 60 which came from 52 deliveries and featured three fours and two sixes. For Pakistan, only Nashra Sandhu could pick up a wicket.

Earlier batting first, Pakistan only managed  132/9 in the allotted 20 overs. The national team had a shaky start to their innings as opener Sadaf Shams (2) fell victim to Bryce in the second over with just 10 runs on the board.

Sidra Amin and Nida Dar were dismissed by Olivia Bell, causing further damage to Pakistan’s batting effort. Meanwhile, Abtaha Maqsood removed opener Gull Feroza (14) to help Scotland reduce Pakistan to 35/4 in 6.4 overs.

Then, Omaima Sohail and wicketkeeper batter Muneeba Ali (27) scored 33 runs for the fifth wicket stand before the latter was removed by Katherine Fraser.

However, Omaima formed a strong partnership with captain Fatima Sana and Aliya Riaz (10) before ultimately succumbing in the last over.

Omaima, on the other hand, put together notable partnerships with Aliya Riaz (10) and skipper Fatima Sana before finally perishing in the penultimate over.

The middle-order batter remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a 29-ball 30 which included a boundary.

Fatima Sana and Iram Javed then gave a late push to Pakistan’s total with brisk cameos. Iram made a nine-ball 12 while Fatima remained unbeaten with a 14-ball 20, hitting two boundaries.

Kathryn Bryce was the pick of the bowlers for Scotland, picking up three wickets, followed by Olivia Bell and Abtaha Maqsood taking two each. Rachel Slater and Fraser shared two wickets between them.