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WWC 2025: New Zealand look to stay in semi-final hunt against winless Pakistan
It’s that time of the tournament where the calculators come out as qualification permutations start being meted out in earnest. Heading into this game, of the two sides New Zealand are the ones with qualification for the semi-finals still in their hands; wins in their next three and they’ll be on an unassailable nine points – easier said than done, though, as India and England await after their bout with Pakistan.
For Pakistan, things are a little trickier. Not only are they firmly bottom of the table with a solitary point, they also have the worst net run rate. All that said they’re still not mathematically eliminated, though with South Africa and Sri Lanka to follow after New Zealand, three wins in three would be a monumental feat. And even that would not guarantee qualification, with other results needing to go their way.
But for the time being all these sides can do is focus their attention onto matters on the field. Pakistan will know that they haven’t been as bad as results suggest. Yes, their three defeats have been pretty comprehensive, but two were to pre-tournament favourites India and Australia. And against England, it was only rain that halted their push towards a first win.
Fatima Sana has led from the front, picking up nine wickets across the tournament, and in her, Pakistan possess a potent weapon against most top orders – amplified by the fact that batting in Colombo has been at its most perilous in the first half of the innings. And in Sadia Iqbal and Nashra Sandhu they boast a pair of spinners that would challenge any batting line-up.
Their batting, however, has let them down at this World Cup, and it’s here that New Zealand will seek to gain an advantage. New Zealand have shown glimpses of their prowess with both bat and ball across this tournament, but are yet to string it all together. They bundled out Bangladesh cheaply, but failed to consistently challenge batters in their matches against Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
On the batting front too, there have been good performances – especially from Sophie Devine – but none that have managed to blow the opposition away. These will be areas they will be desperate to improve on, and a down-on-their-luck Pakistan might be just the opposition they would be eyeing to sharpen their blades.
Fatima Sana has been doing the business with the new ball, but her new ball partner Diana Baig has struggled to hold down the fort at the other end. Baig, to be fair, has had a fairly prolific 2025, picking up 17 wickets so far in 12 WODIs. It is, in fact, the most successful calendar year of her career, but her economy rate has been on the high side – in a series against South Africa last month she conceded 8.83 an over, and even in a dominant performance against England she went at 8.33. With their batting misfiring, Pakistan will know they can ill-afford to leak runs.
Lea Tahuhu took seven wickets across New Zealand’s opening three matches at this World Cup – her only three matches in 2025, in fact – but found herself on the bench against Sri Lanka. That decision was based on Chamari Athapaththu being perceived to have a poor match-up against left-arm seamers like Bree Illing. Pakistan are one of Tahuhu’s favoured opponents, with her economy rate across 11 WODIs against them just 3.70, so expect her to be back in the XI and with a point to prove.
Tahuhu is likely to be back in the XI, having sat out the washed-out match against Sri Lanka on tactical grounds.
New Zealand XI (probable): Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (capt), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, Lea Tahuhu.
Pakistan haven’t been shy about changing up their XI, particularly their batting order. But considering the washout against England, they might stick to an unchanged side.
Pakistan XI (probable): Omaima Sohail, Muneeba Ali, Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz Natalia Pervaiz, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Fatima Sana (capt), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal
[Cricinfo]
A suicide attack outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has killed 12 people and injured at least 27 more, the country’s interior minister said.
Mohsin Naqvi said a bomber was planning to attack the district courthouse but was unable to get inside.
Naqvi said authorities would prioritise identifying the bomber, and that those involved would be brought to justice.
Suicide blasts in Islamabad have been rare in recent years. Footage from the scene on Tuesday showed the remains of a burnt out car and a police cordon in place.
The 27 people injured are receiving medical treatment, Naqvi said.
He added that the attacker detonated the bomb close to a police car after waiting for up to 15 minutes.
Footage of the aftermath showed plumes of smoke rising from a charred vehicle behind a security barrier. The incident occurred at 12:39 local time (07:39 GMT).
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said he “strongly condemned the suicide blast”.
A lawyer who said he was parking his car outside the court at the time described hearing a “loud bang”.
Rustam Malik told AFP news agency “it was complete chaos”.
“Lawyers and people were running inside the complex,” he added. “I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire.”
No-one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has claimed that extremist groups “actively backed by India” were involved.
In a statement, he said that “terrorist attacks on unarmed citizens of Pakistan by India’s terrorist proxies are condemnable”.
Delhi has not responded to the accusations. It has previously denied such claims.
In a separate incident on Monday, a car exploded in India’s capital Delhi, killing eight people and injuring a number of others.
The Indian government has not called the incident a terror attack, although the case has been referred to the country’s anti-terror body.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said following the attack: “The conspirators behind this heinous act will not be spared. All those responsible will be brought to justice, no matter how deep the conspiracy runs.”
There is, however, no official word yet on what led to the blast.
The last time Pakistan’s capital was targeted by a suicide bombing was three years ago when a police officer was killed and several others injured.
There have been suicide attacks in other parts of the country in the years since but not in Islamabad.
[BBC]
Israel’s parliament has passed the first reading of a bill that would introduce the death penalty for “terrorism”.
The amendment to the penal code, proposed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, was approved by 39 votes to 16 in the 120-member Knesset on Monday, signalling it has support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
According to the draft text, the death penalty would apply to individuals who kill Israelis out of “racist” motives and “with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the revival of the Jewish people in its land”, The Times of Israel reported.
Critics said the wording means that in practice, the death penalty would apply almost exclusively to Palestinians who kill Jews, not to Jewish hardliners who carry out attacks on Palestinians.
Attempts to introduce similar legislation have failed in the past. The current bill must pass a second and third reading before becoming law.
A statement from the National Security Committee that includes the bill’s explanatory note said: “Its purpose is to cut off terrorism at its root and create a heavy deterrent.”
Ben-Gvir welcomed the result of the vote on social media and said his Jewish Power party is “making history”.
Human rights groups have condemned Ben-Gvir’s long-running push for such legislation, warning that it targets Palestinians specifically and deepens systemic discrimination.
While the death penalty still exists for a small number of crimes in Israel, it has become a de facto abolitionist state. Nazi Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann was the last person executed by the country when he was put to death in 1962.
The vote on the bill took place during the United States-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect last month, aimed at ending Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israel is accused of violating the ceasefire with consistent attacks on Gaza, while Israeli settlers and the military have regularly carried out deadly assaults across the occupied West Bank.
Israel claims Hamas is breaking the terms of the ceasefire and remains a threat to its military in Gaza.
Responding to the parliamentary vote, the Palestinian group said the proposed law “embodies the ugly fascist face of the rogue Zionist occupation and represents a blatant violation of international law”.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates called the proposed bill “new form of escalating Israeli extremism and criminality against the Palestinian people”.
More than 10,000 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently being held in Israeli prisons.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations assert that they are subject to torture, starvation and medical neglect that has led to the deaths of numerous detainees.
[Aljazeera]
As per the current national policy of the government to make public transport in Sri Lanka efficient and streamlined, the necessity of establishing multi-modal transport hubs with required facilities has been identified to enable efficient public transport services to be initiated from transit cities and main cities through the interconnection between transport modes.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved in principle the proposal presented by the Acting Minister of Transport, Highways, and Urban Development to develop the following multi-modal transport hubs on a priority basis, with the objective of upgrading the interconnection of transport modes such as buses, trains, and taxi services by integrating bus stands and railway stations identified as having a growing passenger circulation on the island, subject to a formal feasibility study.
• Kandy Multimodal Transport Hub (Construction work has already been started under world bank financing)
• Anuradhapura (South) Multimodal Transport Hub (Constructions are about to be completed under the Anuradhapura combined urban development project)
• Anuradhapura (North) Multimodal Transport Hub (feasibility study has been performed and preliminary work completed)
• Multimodal Transport Hub centered around the Fort Railway Station (as proposed by the ComTrans Master Plan, which has been prepared for urban transport in Colombo and suburbs)
• Moratuwa Multimodal Transport Center (proposed by the ComTrans Master Plan)
• Ragama Multimodal Transport Center ( identified through a study conducted by the Japan International Coorperation Agency)
• Avissawella, Galle, Katunayake, Kurunegala Multimodal Transport Centers (identified according to the urban plans of the Urban Development Authority)
• Gampaha Multimodal Transport Center ((identified according to the urban plans of the Urban Development Authority and railway electrification of the Colombo Suburban Railway Project)
• Katunayake Multimodal Transport Hub (identified under the Airport Development Plan)
• Kaluthara Multimodal Transport Center (identified as a proposal of the District coordination Committee)
• Kankasanthure Multimodal Transport Center(identified according to the urban plans of the Urban Development Authority)
Suicide bombing in Islamabad kills 12, says Pakistan’s interior minister
Israel parliament passes first reading of death penalty for ‘terrorism’ law
Cabinet nod to appoint Mrs. Tharani Kumaradasa to the Post of Commissioner of Cooperative Development / Cooperative Society Registrar
Cabinet nod to hold 28th joint Asia Pacific Regional Social Workshop from 18-21 November in Sri Lanka
Establishment of multi-modal transport hubs
Cabinet approves restructuring of the Sri Lanka Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank and the State Mortgage and Investment Bank
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