Charlie Dean’s all-round show triumphs over skipper Nida Dar’s brilliance as England goes 1-0 up in the ODI series.
The England women’s team led by skipper Heather Knight whitewashed Pakistan in the three-match T20I series. The caravan now moves on to the three-match ODI series.
The Pakistan skipper Nida Dar won the toss and opted to field first. After being inserted to bat first, the England openers Tammy Beaumont and Maia Bouchier got off to a steady start. Nashra Sandhu picked up the wicket of Maia Bouchier to provide the first breakthrough for Pakistan. Skipper Heather Knight joined Tammy Beaumont at the crease and the duo failed to stitch a substantial partnership as they lost the wicket of Tammy Beaumont in the 14th over of the innings.
Umm-e-Hani provided the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Nat Sciver-Brunt joined skipper Heather Knight at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 46-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Aliya Riaz picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Heather Knight to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Pakistan. Nat Sciver-Brunt soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 4th breakthrough for Pakistan.
Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones joined Alice Capsey at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 67-run partnership for the 5th wicket, to take the home side close to the 200-run mark. Skipper Nida Dar picked up the wicket of the wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones to provide the much-needed 5th breakthrough for her side. Charlie Dean joined Alice Capsey at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 31-run partnership for the 6th wicket before Nashra Sandhu came back and picked up the wicket of Alice Capsey to provide the 6th breakthrough for Pakistan.
The home side ended up with a total of 243/9 in their quota of overs. Alice Capsey (44 of 65 balls), wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones (37 off 38 balls), Tammy Beaumont (33 off 40 balls), and Nat Sciver-Brunt (31 off 34 balls) were the top performers with the bat for England. Skipper Nida Dar (10-0-56-3), Aliya Riaz (6-0-24-2), Nashra Sandhu (10-0-41-2), and Umm-e-Hani (10-0-43-2) were the top performers with the ball for Pakistan.
Chasing a target of 244, the Pakistan openers Sidra Amin and Sadaf Shamas got off to a steady start. Lauren Bell picked up the wicket of Sidra Amin to provide the first breakthrough for England. Muneeba Ali joined Sadaf Shamas at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 30-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Sophie Ecclestone cleaned up Sadaf Shamas to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Ayesha Zafar soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Pakistan. Skipper Nida Dar joined Muneeba Ali at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 38-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Lauren Bell came back and picked up the wicket of Muneeba Ali to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. Aliya Riaz joined skipper Nida Dar at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 32-run partnership for the 5th wicket.
Charlie Dean picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Nida Dar to provide the 5th breakthrough for England. Pakistan were eventually restricted to 206/9 in their quota of overs. They fell short of the target by 37 runs. Muneeba Ali (34 off 60 balls), Sadaf Shamas (28 off 48 balls), skipper Nida Dar (26 off 38 balls), and wicket-keeper batter Najiha Alvi (26 off 57 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Pakistan.
Sophie Ecclestone (10-1-26-3), Charlie Dean (10-1-39-2), Lauren Bell (10-0-42-2), and Kate Cross (10-0-46-2) were the top performers with the ball for England. Sophie Ecclestone was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant match-winning performance (10-1-26-3) with the ball. She played a crucial role in helping her side go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series. The 2nd ODI of the series will be played on 26th May 2024 at Taunton from 5:30 PM IST.