In the second semifinal of the Women’s Asia Cup, Pakistan’s captain Fatima Sana played a crucial innings, scoring an unbeaten 47 runs off 36 balls. Her performance was instrumental in guiding the team to a total of 130 for 5 against Sri Lanka. The match took place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Pakistan Women were in early trouble, reduced to 52/4 in the 10th over, but skipper Fatima Sana produced a valiant knock to steer her side through a difficult phase and provide the much-needed impetus in the middle and death overs.
Fatima walked in under pressure with Pakistan and responded with a 36-ball 47 not out, showing amazing composure in the tough heat and humidity. Earlier, Shawaal Zulfiqar set the platform with an excellent opening knock of 24 (16). However, Sri Lanka clawed their way back toward the end of the Powerplay, with captain Chamari Athapaththu returning figures of 2-24 to claim a couple of vital wickets and stop Pakistan’s progress.
The conditions were clearly beginning to take their toll on the Pakistan captain, who had to call on the team physio to the middle a few times towards the end of her innings. But Fatima continued to tolerate the discomfort and maintained a brisk scoring rate, ensuring Pakistan did not lose momentum at a crucial stage. Her knock proved vital in helping the side recover after the early setbacks and post a competitive total. She struck the ball cleanly and stuck to the approach she’s shown throughout the tournament, looking to play as straight as possible and put the bowlers under pressure.
