In the sixth and final league match of Pakistan Cricket Board’s world-cup preparatory National Triangular T20 tournament which is going on at National Stadium, Karachi, and PCB Challengers won the toss and elected to bat first.
Challengers’ star opener and 22-year-old Karachi girl Muneeba Ali continued her consistent run in the tournament, scoring another half-ton – 68 runs off 58 balls with 10 boundaries. She yet again gave her side the start they needed but neither her opening partner Ayesha Zafar nor the batters who came after her could help the Challengers post a challenging total on board. With a rate of 6.85 runs per over, the PCB Challengers could post 137 runs on board with a loss of 7 wickets by the end of the innings. For the Dynamites, Diana Baig, Kainat Imtiaz, Sana Mir, and Masooma Jafri, all got one wicket each.
For the Dynamites, while Kainat Hafeez and Nahida Khan failed to score and got out on a duck, Nahida’s opening partner, Omaima Sohail scored a quick 24 ball 41, with Lahore’s Sidra Ameen steering the ship for the team, scoring a match-winning 52 balls 68 runs with 8 boundaries. Sidra joined the Pakistani side in 2011 and has made 4 appearances in the 2013 Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The PCB Dynamites finished the chase 3 balls early, scoring 138 runs with the loss of 7 wickets. For the Challengers – Aimen Anwar, Fatima Sana, and Syeda Shah, all got 2 wickets each.
Despite the win, PCB Dynamites couldn’t make it to the finals that will be held on 16th January. PCB Blasters and Challengers will fight for the title at the National Stadium, Karachi. It would be interesting to see if Muneeba leads her side to the National Triangular T20 trophy or if the Blasters win this one.
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