Women’s World Cup qualifiers: Pakistan fumble to 191 against West Indies

Pakistan were bowled out for a below-par 191 against the West Indies on Monday in their third One-Day International (ODI) encounter of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Qualifiers.

The Pakistani innings never really started going on a wicket at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore that spun from ball one and had variable bounce as well. The hosts are looking to continue their winning momentum and edge ever so closer to qualifying for the World Cup by triumphing in today’s clash.

Veteran batter Sidra Amin top-scored with 54 but was found wanting for support from the other end.

The hosts lost the newcomer Gull Feroza early in the innings with the score at just six when she edged behind to West Indies captain Hayley Mathews in what was a straightforward dismissal.

There was plenty of spin in the wicket right from the get-go, with the West Indies skipper extracting considerable turn on the Lahore pitch. There were a lot of oohs and aahs from the West Indies players, with Mathews inducing false strokes from the Pakistani batters during her first spell.

The West Indies bowlers kept it tight, with Pakistan scoring just 27 for the loss of one wicket at the end of the powerplay. The shackles were broken when Muneeba charged down the wicket to hit Jannillea Glasgow for a boundary straight down the ground.

The run-rate gradually picked up from there, with the 50 coming up for Pakistan in the 16th over of the innings. Leggie Afy Fletcher made the second breakthrough just as Pakistan were looking to accelerate — trapping Muneeba, who scored 71 in the last encounter against Scotland, leg before wicket.

Her dismissal brought Aliya Riaz to the crease, who is the woman of the moment for Pakistan with the bat — scoring back-to-back 50s in the host’s first two encounters and getting 68 not out in the last match against Scotland in a tricky chase.

Mathews brought herself back into the attack to get the prized wicket of Aliya, but the right-handed batter played her overs out without much discomfort on a pitch that was showing signs of variable bounce. She was ably supported by Sidra at the other end as they played out the spinners in the middle overs.

The sweep was the shot of choice for Sidra against the turning ball, using it both as a rotation option as well as for boundaries later in the innings.

Although the West Indies bowlers could not get her out, Aliya subsequently fell for 20 after being run out by yards. The hundred came up for the hosts in the 31st over for the loss of three as the innings meandered along at less than four an over.

Sidra brought up her 10th half-century with a reverse sweep off the bowling of spinner Ashmini Munisar, taking 86 balls to get there as she anchored the innings.

As the hosts tried to up the run-rate from the next over by Fletcher, Omema hit a tremendous boundary high over the covers off the leggie, only to lob the ball straight to Matthews at cover later in the over for the easiest of catches at this level.

The oohs and aahs were back the very next over as the West Indies applied pressure in an attempt to run through the Pakistani batting as skipper Fatima Sana made her way to the crease.

The next to fall for the batting team was Sidra, bringing her long vigil at the crease to an end as she was toppled by leggie Munisar. Her dismissal triggered a procession of wickets as none of the lower order batters could accelerate the innings.

Wickets fell regularly, with Pakistan bowled out for 191 on the penultimate ball of the innings.

Earlier in the day, the home side won the toss and elected to bat first against West Indies.

In their first day-night fixture of the tournament at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan were unchanged since their last match against Scotland. They won on Friday by six wickets in a rain-curtailed encounter on the back of an unbeaten knock of 68 by Aliya Riaz, Muneeba Ali’s 71 and skipper Fatima Sana’s four-wicket haul.

West Indies were coming off a win in their last encounter against Ireland, where they won by six runs in a match that went down to the wire.

The six-team ICC event, which includes Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland, Thailand and West Indies alongside hosts Pakistan, features a single-league round-robin format with the matches taking place at the Gaddafi Stadium and LCCA ground in Lahore.

The tournament will decide the two qualifiers for the 2025 Women’s World Cup to be held later this year in India.

Pakistan, however, will be playing their matches at a neutral venue after a “fusion” model was decided upon following India’s refusal to play its matches in Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year.

Teams:

Pakistan: Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali, Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper), Fatima Sana (captain), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Sadia Iqbal and Nashra Sandhu.

West Indies: Hayley Matthews (captain), Zaida James, Shemaine Campbelle (wicket-keeper), Stafanie Taylor, Chinelle Henry, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Aaliyah Alleyne, Afy Fletcher, Ashmini Munisar and Karishma Ramharack.