Sports
Aliya Riaz and Sadia Iqbal rule Super Over to give Pakistan consolation win
Sadia Iqbal and Aliya Riaz played the starring roles as Pakistan beat New Zealand in a Super Over after the nail-biting third ODI ended in a tie in Christchurch. With the win, Pakistan denied New Zealand a series whitewash after the first two games had gone the way of the hosts.
Pakistan looked like favourites for large parts of their chase of 252, but a late collapse meant they needed eight runs in the last over with just one wicket in hand.
Lea Tahuhu bowled it, and bowled well, but was unlucky to give away four byes. And, with two needed for a win off the final ball, Najiha Alvi got the ball away to deep backward square and Pakistan levelled the scores.
Riaz, who played an important knock of 44 in Pakistan’s innings, started the Super Over – bowled by Amelia Kerr – with a boundary off the outside edge. Amelia did not concede any more boundaries, but Pakistan still managed to get to 11.
Amelia was then out second ball in New Zealand’s Super Over innings, lifting Iqbal straight to long-off. Sophie Devine hammered the left-arm spinner for a six over midwicket to bring the equation down to four off the last two balls, but skied a catch to long-on off the next delivery.
Earlier, New Zealand had opted to bat, and after losing their openers cheaply, were steadied by 50-plus stands between Devine (29 in 32 balls) and Amelia, and then Amelia and Maddy Green.
After Kerr was bowled by Ghulam Fatima for an 87-ball 77, New Zealand lost a few quick wickets before a 40-run stand between Green (65* in 69) and Jess Kerr (19 in 15) helped them get to 251.
Pakistan started slowly in their chase and lost opener Muneeba Ali in the sixth over, trapped lbw by Hanna Rowe, with just 11 runs on the board.
But Sidra Ameen upped the tempo, hitting 20 off her next eight balls before Tahuhu dismissed her for a 22-ball 24.
Bismah Maroof and Riaz added 101 for the third wicket as Pakistan looked like they were in control of the chase. While Maroof reached her half-century, Riaz fell just short as Jess took a good return catch to break their burgeoning stand.
Fatima Sana, standing in as Pakistan’s skipper after Nida Dar was concussed in the first game, came in and played an enterprising knock to ensure the visitors did not lose momentum with Riaz’s wicket.
Even after Fran Jonas ended Maroof’s stay for 68 in 86 balls, Sana continued to take the bowlers on, with support from Natalia Pervaiz. Devine finally had Sana caught behind for a 33-ball 36 with Pakistan still 54 runs behind New Zealand’s total.
Pervaiz and Alvi then put on a 31-run stand off 28 balls as Pakistan inched closer, but the Kerr sisters combined to remove Pervaiz for a 23-ball 26 with Pakistan still needing 23 runs.
Tahuhu caught Umm-e-Hani off her own bowling in the next over, and Amelia threatened to take the game away when Nashra Sandhu was run-out off her bowling in the penultimate over and she castled Iqbal for a golden duck.
But Alvi, who finished unbeaten on 23 in 26 balls, kept her calm and helped Pakistan take it to a Super Over.
Brief scores:
Pakistan women 251 for 9 in 50 overs (Bismah Maroof 68, Sidra Ameen 24, Aliya Riaz 44, Fatima Sana 36, Natalia Pervaiz 26, Najiha Alvi 23; Lea Tahuhu 2-30, Amelia Kerr 2-54) beat New Zealand women 251 for 8 in 50 overs (Suzie Bates 24, Amelia Kerr 77, Sophie Devine 29, Maddy Green 65*; Nashra Sandhu 2-59, Ghulam Fatima 2-59) in the One-over Eliminator
(BBC)
It’s taking longer than most expected, but Bangladesh are inevitably moving towards history. Bangladesh and Pakistan will go into a fifth day in Sylhet, with Bangladesh on the cusp of another 2-0 clean sweep of Pakistan. They need just three wickets to get there, with Mohammed Rizwan, unbeaten on 75, the final, valiant point of resistance for a visiting side who still need an improbable 121 for victory.
It was thanks primarily to Rizwan, and his 134-run partnership with Salman Agha in the final session, that kept Bangladesh waiting for so long when they appeared to be on course to finish Pakistan off. But two crucial wickets from Taijul Islam – who bowled more than a third of the overs on Tuesday – in the final half hour saw that partnership broken, and the hosts burrow deep into Pakistan’s tail.
Rizwan and Agha got together off the back of three quick wickets, and a resurgent Bangladesh sniffing for a quick knockout. Instead, they held them at bay for over three hours, counterattacking early on before seeing off wave after wave of spin and seam from Bangladesh. Even as Bangladesh attacked with the field, the duo kept run-scoring front and centre of their survival strategy, using their feet against spin and timing the ball expertly when pace returned.
That the stand had begun to frustrate Bangladesh became evident when tempers flared in the final hour, with Litton Das taking exception to Rizwan slowing play down after disturbances from the sightscreen. The contest took on a distinct edge, but the Pakistan pair did not lose focus, inching their way towards stumps.
No more wickets might have given Bangladesh a sleepless night, but Taijul put them at ease. With Nahid Rana operating with a new ball from the other end, Taijul produced an arm delivery that skidded through Agha’s defences and knocked back his stumps, prompting wild celebrations from the hosts, who understood the importance of the moment. Hasan Ali, whom Rizwan curiously decided against shielding from the strike, posed little resistance, leaving Bangladesh just three wickets adrift.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 232 and 316 for 7 (Shan Masood 71, Babar Azam 47, Salman Agha 71, Mohammad Rizwan 75*; Taijul Islam 4-113, Nahid Rana 2-58) need another 121 runs to beat Bangladesh 278 and 390
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka Cricket’s new transformation committee has had “cordial and constructive” discussions with Imran Khwaja, the ICC’s deputy chair, according to a member of the new SLC committee.
Khwaja had been in Ari Lanka over the last few days to gather information as the ICC decides what its response to the sweeping government-led changes at SLC should be. During the course of that visit, Khwaja not only spoke with members of SLC’s transformation committee, but also met with Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, whose government had installed the committee after ousting the previous board.
Sidath Wettimuny one of the committee’s nine members, said SLC’s new administrators were hopeful the ICC would continue to treat the board as a regular Full Member.
But the ICC has a track record of reprimanding SLC because of perceived government interference. In 2023, SLC was suspended over “extensive government interference” and, in 2015, the ICC had also frozen payments over a previous “interim committee” having been appointed by the then government.
This current committee, however, has said its goals were to replace SLC’s archaic constitution, before making way for a new set of elected officials.
The ICC has so far made no comments on the change of administration at SLC.
The committee, formally unveiled on April 30, has nine members, including Kumar Sangakkara, Wettimuny and Roshan Mahanama. The majority of the members, though, hail from corporate, legal, and political spheres, with former member of parliament Eran Wickramaratne appointed as chair.
“Our immediate priority is a total overhaul of the governance framework at SLC,” Wettimuny had said after the committee members were named. “The cornerstone of this effort will be the implementation of the new constitution, ensuring it serves as a robust, modern foundation for the sport.”
The committee’s second priority would be to ensure “excellence on the field,” Wickramaratne had said. “We will focus on establishing the structures, world-class facilities, and incentive models necessary to empower our national teams. Our goal is to enable our players to consistently deliver world-class performances and elevate Sri Lanka back to the top tier of international rankings.”
[Cricinfo]
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