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Aliya Riaz and Fatima Sana star as Pakistan wrap up historic series win
Having beaten New Zealand for the first time in a T20I to start the series, Pakistan went one better in the second game in Dunedin, where Fatima Sana picked up her second successive three-wicket haul to lead her side to a series-clinching victory. The 10-run win brought up Pakistan’s first T20I series win away from home since October 2018, and their first T20I series victory outside Asia and Ireland.
Sana followed up her 3 for 18 in the first T20I with figures of 3 for 22, her wickets those of Suzie Bates (for the second time in the series), Sophie Devine and Hannah Rowe – all three bowled. Rowe’s wicket effectively clinched the match: Sana dismissed the No. 7 for 33 off 24 balls when New Zealand needed 12 off three balls. Molly Penfold, who came in next, only managed a dot and a single off the last two balls of the match.
Rowe had walked in when New Zealand were 62 for 5 in the 13th over, needing 76 off 45 balls to draw level in the series. It came down to 50 off 23 when Georgia Plimmer fell in the 17th over for 28, but Rowe and Lea Tahuhu found the big hits at just the right time to keep New Zealand in it with a last-over requirement of 18 runs. Sana, however, came back at the finish to complete her star turn.
Sent in to bat, Pakistan made a strong start courtesy Muneeba Ali’s 28-ball 35 at the top of the order. They suffered a setback, however, when Penfold dismissed Nida Dar and Bismah Maroof in the space of three deliveries to leave Pakistan on 86 for 4 after 13 overs. Aliya Riaz, however, ensured they finished with a defendable total, scoring her second unbeaten cameo in a row. There wasn’t much support from the batters at the other end, who scored 10 off 21 between them in the last seven overs, but Riaz hit three fours and a six in a 22-ball 32 to set New Zealand a target that proved just beyond their reach.
The third and final T20I will be played in Queenstown on Saturday, following which the tour moves into its ODI leg.
Brief scores:
Pakistan Women 137 for 6 in 20 overs (Muneeba Ali 35, Aliya Riaz 32*, Bismah Maroof 21; Hannah Rowe 1-25, Mollie Penfold 2-17, Fran Jonas 2-21, Sophie Devine 1-08) beat New Zealand Women 127 for 7 in 20 overs (Hannah Rowe 33, Georgia Plimmer 28; Fatima Sana 3-22, Sadia Iqbal 2-29, Nida Dar 1-20) by 10 runs
Bangladesh’s veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has finally been cleared of suspect action after suffering months of negativity regarding the same. The 37-year-old had failed the test twice but the latest results suggest that Shakib has finally managed to clear the air around his bowling action.
The development comes as a huge sigh of relief for Shakib who had been excluded for Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy squad as the selectors didn’t want to pick him as a specialist batter. Having been suspended to bowl meant that the all-rounder couldn’t take part of the ICC event which had been earmarked as a farewell tournament for him in international cricket.
The phrase third-time lucky proved right for Shakib who cleared his latest bowling action test in England. When contacted by Cricbuzz, he confirmed the news with an understandable air of happiness.
“The news is right (passing about the bowling test) and I am cleared to bowl again,” Shakib said.
Shakib’s bowling action first came under scrutiny during a County Championship match for Surrey against Somerset in September 2024. Subsequently, the England and
Wales Cricket Board [ECB] suspended him following an independent evaluation that declared his action illegal.
Shakib then underwent two separate reassessments, first in England and then in India, failing both attempts, following which he was suspended from bowling.
The Malaysian cabinet has approved a fresh search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, more than a decade after the aircraft vanished.
The search will cover a 15,000 sq km area in the southern Indian Ocean, under a “no find, no fee” agreement with the exploration firm Ocean Infinity.
The company will receive $70m (£56m) if the wreckage is found, transport minister Loke Siew Fook announced.
Flight MH370 disappeared in 2014 with 239 people on board while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Its disappearance is one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries, which continues to haunt the families of the passengers.
Despite extensive searches in the years since it vanished, no wreckage has been found. Previous efforts, including a multinational search that cost $150m (£120m), ended in 2017.
The governments of the three nations involved – Malaysia, Australia and China – said the search would only be resumed “should credible new evidence emerge” of the aircraft’s location.
A 2018 search for the wreckage by Ocean Infinity under similar terms ended unsuccessfully after three months.
In December, Malaysia’s government agreed in principle to resume the search. However, the final negotiations were not completed until March.
Malaysia’s final approval on Wednesday will now allow the search to begin.
Loke said in a statement: “The government is committed to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of the MH370 passengers.”
Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur in the early hours of 8 March 2014. Less than an hour after takeoff, it lost communication with air traffic control, and radar showed that it had deviated from its planned flight path.
Investigators generally agree that the plane crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, though the reason for the crash remains unclear.
Pieces of debris, believed to be from the plane, have washed up on the shores of the Indian Ocean in the years following its disappearance.
The aircraft’s disappearance has given rise to a host of conspiracy theories, including speculation that the pilot had deliberately brought the plane down and claims that it had been shot down by a foreign military.
An investigation in 2018 into the aircraft’s disappearance found that the plane’s controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course, but drew no conclusions behind it.
Investigators said at the time that “the answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found”.
The passengers included people from more than a dozen countries: just under two-thirds were Chinese nationals, followed by 38 Malaysians, with others from Australia, Indonesia, India, France, Ukraine, the US and several other nations.
Family members of missing Chinese MH370 passengers met with officials in Beijing earlier in March to discuss the renewed search for the wreckage and express their hopes for an independent search. Some relatives voiced their frustration over a lack of direct communication from the Malaysian authorities.
“It was promised that we would be informed immediately [but] we can only find out about this kind of news online,” said Li Eryou, a 68-year-old father who lost his 29-year-old son. “Many families don’t even know how to access this information, so they are completely unaware,” he told AFP.
Grieving families gathered outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing on the eleventh anniversary of the flight’s disappearance earlier this month, chanting: “Give us back our loved ones!”
Cheng Liping, whose husband had been in Malaysia for a film shoot and had been returning to China on MH370, said she hoped Beijing would communicate more with Malaysia to uncover the truth. “Everyone has been left trapped in pain,” she told reporters. “What exactly happened is still unknown.”
The fresh search prompted mixed reactions from the families of passengers when it was announced in December – with some calling it a step towards closure, while others describing the news as bittersweet.
[BBC]
Navy conducts shipwreck expedition
Shakib Al Hasan clears bowling action reassessment test
Malaysia green-lights new MH370 search in Indian Ocean
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