Pakistan took a sweet revenge for the Asia Cup semi-final loss against Sri Lanka on Thursday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Fatima Sana and co. defended 116 and beat the Chamari Athapaththu-led side by 31 runs on the opening day of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. After the match, Pakistan’s captain, Fatima and Sri Lanka’s opening batter, Vishmi Gunarathne, addressed the press conference.
On the convincing win over Sri Lanka, Fatima said, “We needed such a win in the World Cup to build the momentum. As a team, we have a lot of confidence in each other’s abilities.”
Pakistan will play India, Australia, and New Zealand in the coming days, which could pose a challenge. “No team is big or small in the T20 format. The team that plays well wins the match. We look forward to carrying this momentum into our next match. We will try to give our best,” stated Fatima.
After the win over Sri Lanka, Pakistan will back itself and look to put up a strong fight against the aforementioned higher-ranked teams. It was refreshing to see the Pakistan batters playing some big shots. “In the last few months, we worked on our power hitting. Credit goes to our coaching and support staff. We have the belief that even if there is a fielder we can still clear the boundary,” shared Fatima.
Quite contrary to Pakistan’s batting style, Sri Lankan batters failed to hit big shots. Addressing the journalists in her media interaction, Vishmi said, “It was a slow pitch, and they (Pakistan) didn’t give us any pace on the ball, which made it difficult. If we could have got more ones, twos, and threes, we could have had a chance (to win).”
In the run chase, Sri Lanka lost their captain, Athapaththu, in the third over. With the fall of her wicket, their chances to win the match also fell, despite some valiant efforts from Gunarathne and Nilakshi Silva. Vishmi posited, “We were confident of chasing the target despite her (Athapaththu) early wicket. But I think we did not adjust well to the conditions.”
Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in Group A, alongside India, Australia, and New Zealand. Both teams have three matches left to be played in the league and will want to put their best foot forward.
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.
