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October 11 at the Women’s T20 World Cup: Australia enter Dubai with eye on semi-final spot
Australia vs Pakistan
Dubai, 6pm local time
A personal tragedy has all but taken out chances of Pakistan captain Fatima Sana playing on Friday. With her departure to Karachi, Muneeba Ali is expected to fill in the role. Diana Baig – if fit to play – could replace her. But Sana’s shoes will be tough to fill as she is the joint-highest wicket-taker for Pakistan so far and her strike rate of 153.57 is by far the highest within the side. Despite the batters’ willingness to be aggressive, they have put up totals of 116 and 105 for 8 and will have to push past that if they are to challenge Australia
Australia have stood up to their champion billing and are currently on a hot streak of 13 straight wins in T20 World Cups since 2020. They have beaten Pakistan 13 times in T20Is and have never lost a game. Another win will all but confirm their spot in the semi-finals. Dubai could be a welcome change in venue for Australia, after playing both their games in Sharjah where the pitch and outfield were slow. Grace Harris, who replaced Darcie Brown against New Zealand, might have to make way for the pacer as Australia bat deep.
Australia squad:
Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
Pakistan squad:
Muneeba Ali (capt & wk), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tasmia Rubab, Tuba Hassan, Fatima Sana (unlikely starter)
Tournament form guide:
Table-toppers Australia are coming off of big wins against Sri Lanka [by six wickets] and New Zealand [by 60 runs] and are the only unbeaten team in Group A. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in their tournament opener and lost to India in Dubai and currently third on the table..
Player to watch:
Nida Dar is the only Pakistan batter to have gone past 20 in both games this tournament. She is the stabilising force at No. 5. She bowled just under five overs and has gone at an economy of 4.55 but is yet to pick up a wicket, something she would like to change against Australia. Beth Monney’s forties in both games at Sharjah took Australia home in a modest chase and set the platform to post the highest total in the venue so far this tournament. A friendlier pitch in Dubai will add to the run tally and raise her boundary count if she can get off to another start
[Cricinfo].
Latest News
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
It has been decided to establish a BIMSTEC technology transfer facility in Sri Lanka by entering into a Host Country Agreement at the second leaders’ summit of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) held in New Delhi, India, in 2008, with the objective of enhancing regional cooperation.
The relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the member countries at the 5th BIMSTEC summit on 30-03-2022 in Colombo.
The prime objective of this technology transfer facility is to provide technology, capacity building, and management of intellectual property for the micro, small, and medium-scale
enterprises of the BIMSTEC member countries.
According to the cooperation agreement, an agreement should be entered into between Sri Lanka, as the host country, and BIMSTEC Secretariat for formalizing the legal status, privileges, and immunities of the technology transfer facility.
The drafted agreement has received the relevant institutional approval and legal clearance.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Science and Technology to sign the proposed agreement.
Misbah ul Haq has offered his resignation from the Pak7stan men’s national selection committee the day after the PCB made wholesalw changes to the Teat squad and team management midway through the ongoing tour of England. Misbah has also decided to step down from his role as a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
After going 2-0 down in the three-match series by losing at Lord’s by 194 runs, the PCB removed seven players from the Test squad and also released Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul as head coach and bowling coach ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad were the seven players released. Five uncapped players – Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah – will join the Test squad along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke – the head coach and bowling coach of the white-ball set-up – have joined the Test coaching staff.
Cricinfo understands the PCB served a notice to members of the selection committee following the Lord’s defeat seeking a written explanation regarding the selections of Rizwan and Imam in the squads for the tours of West Indies and England.
The notice was sent on Monday, the same day the board announced its decision to send home the seven players and two coaches, ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9. The notice asked for a written explanation outlining the reasons for their selections and the process through which it was arrived at, within 24 hours of the receipt of notice. From the start of 2024 until the West Indies tour, Rizwan was Pakistan’s top Test run-scorer with the highest average. Imam had only played two Tests in that period but was a heavy domestic run-scorer.
Since retiring as Pakistan’s most successful Test captain in 2017, Misbah has served in various capacities in the PCB. He was appointed in the dual role of head coach and chief selector in 2019. He served in both roles until October 2020, when he resigned as the chief selector to focus entirely on the head coaching responsibilities, from which he ultimately resigned the next year.
Two years later, he was brought in as an advisor by the then chief of ad-hoc management committee Zaka Ashraf and had since remained involved with the PCB. He was announced as one of five mentors for the now-defunct men’s Champions Cup after the current management took over in 2024, and he also mentored women’s teams in domestic competitions. He was the coach of the Pakistan Gold side which won the 50-over National Champions Cup in Multan last month under Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy.
Misbah was made part of the four-member selection committee which includes Aaqib Javed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Asad Shafiq in March this year and had also been on a 180-days-a-year contract with the PCB as a batting consultant.
(Cricinfo)
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President to make a donation of United States Dollars One million as humanitarian and economic relief to the government of Nepal
Cabinet aporives recruitment of Nursing Instructors for Nursing Schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media on Contract Basis
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
The cabinet approves agreement on mutual legal cooperation in criminal matters between the Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea
Misbah-ul-Haq resigns as Pakistan selector after Test squad upheaval
Amendment of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No. 3 of 1897
Cabinet approves donation of USD One Million to the Government of Nepal
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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