The 9th match of cricket at the Commonwealth Games had Australia faceoff Pakistan as both sides stepped out for their final league stage game. Australia didn’t have a good start but a familiar pair termed McMooney again provided goods for Australia as the side went on to post to a strong total that Pakistan in reply fell way short off.
1st innings : Australia – 160/2 (20)
Australia having won the toss opt to bat first. Both openers, Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney got off the mark with boundaries before Pakistan provided Alyssa Healy with a life early on, but she didn’t make the most of it as she walked back to Fatima Sana on 4(8). Meg Lanning found life difficult in the middle as Pakistan kept a check on runs and it was Sadia Iqbal bowling the final over of powerplay to dismiss Meg Lanning on 4(12) restricting Australia to 22-2 at the end of 6 overs. Tahlia McGrath joined a set Beth Money and the pair got ones, twos and a few boundaries come their way and got to 58-2 at halfway mark. Soon the 50-run stand was up between the duo, but Australia couldn’t get a lot of boundaries and ran the runs hard to ensure they don’t freeze the scoring as Australia at the 15-over mark only got to 93-2. The pair then stepped foot on the accelerator as McGrath got to her 37-ball-50 and so did Beth Mooney on the other end off 42 balls. The pair piled up crucial runs at the backend with 15, 21 and 12 run overs to complete the innings on a high with a total of 160-2. The McMooney pair shared an 88-ball-141 run stand which had Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney unbeaten on scores of 78(51) and 70(49) respectively. For Pakistan, Fatima Sana with the early wicket followed by Sadia Iqbal were the only wicket takers on the list. A special mention to Diana Baig who bowled 4 very economical overs conceding only 16 runs, but remained wicketless.
2nd innings : Pakistan – 116/8 (20)
Pakistan in reply had a worse start as Muneeba Ali was handed a 3-ball-duck by Megan Schutt followed by fellow opener Iram Javed too depart early on 6(8) off Darcie Brown’s bowling. Omaima Sohail got going well with skipper Bismah on the other end settling in as the pair guided the team to a score of 32-2 at the end of powerplay overs. Just as Pakistan were coming back in the contest, Meg threw the ball to her trump card Alana King, who didn’t disappoint having picked the set Omaima on 23(23) off her first ball. A run-out then caused Aliya Riaz to walk back on 1(4) and Pakistan at halfway mark were reduced to 49-4. Tahlia McGrath in her first over dismissed Ayesha Naseem on 8(14) and then a couple of boundaries helped Pakistan get to 79-5 at the 15-over mark. Fatima Sana looking to resist an end saw Tahlia McGrath’s reintroduction and Diana Baig deny her a hat-trick after dismissing skipper Bismah Maroof on 23(23) and handing a golden duck to Tuba Hassan. Pakistan enjoyed late runs from Fatima Sana’s bat who remained unbeaten on 35(26) as Australia restricted Pakistan to 116 in their 20 overs to win the contest by 44 runs. For Australia, Tahlia McGrath with 3 topped the wickets chart which had Alana King, Jess Jonassen, Darcie Brown and Megan Schutt with one each to their name follow.
Australia makes that three-from-three as it again happens to be a tournament of cricket where Australia clean sweeps their points in the league stage to advance further. Whereas, Pakistan face an early exit, again, as strings of low totals deny any good Pakistan’s way.
A comfortable 44 Run Victory for mighty Australia against Pakistan.
They Won all 3 games in the league round. #CricketTwitter #AUSvPAK. . pic.twitter.com/cYiYY0cEFh
— Female Cricket #B2022 (@imfemalecricket) August 3, 2022