LONDON: Pakistan, looking for their first win of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, are all set to clash with unbeaten archrivals India in Derby on Sunday.
Sana Mir-led Pakistan will look to replicate the historic Champions Trophy success of the Men in Green against India, after having lost to South Africa and hosts England in their earlier two games in the tournament.
Pakistan Women lost a closely-fought game against South Africa by 3 wickets and took a 107-run beating by England Women in their second match. Some positives included a superb inning of 79 by opener Nahida Khan against the Proteas and a sure-footed unbeaten fifty by opener Ayesha Zafar against England.
India, meanwhile, have won both of their two games in the tournament so far.
Pakistan’s all-rounder Asmavia Iqbal has backed her team to beat India and get off the mark in the tournament.
“Playing against India there is always pressure. It is a big game but I am very hopeful of doing much better against India,†she said in an ICC media release.
“We beat India in India in the last T20. I believe in my spinners that they will bounce back and take wickets, and we will win the match.
“Ayesha batted well and gained confidence, which is important before the game against India. We are looking forward to the next game.. In Pakistan they say that you have to win against India, it is very important. We took some positives (from the game against England).
“Our fast bowling did well, Ayesha played well. But there are many areas to improve, especially fielding, which is letting us down. If we field well, we can beat any team.â€
In ODIs, Pakistan have never beaten India in nine attempts, but last year the Girls in Green claimed a historic two-run victory in the ICC World Twenty20, on Indian soil.
India captain Mithali Raj, speaking ahead of the big clash, said India would not be taking any game lightly.
The Indian spinners led the way with seven wickets between them during the match against West Indies, and while Smriti Mandhana did a brilliant run-out of Stafanie Taylor – before hitting an unbeaten century – Raj was frustrated at some late fielding lapses from her team
“We need to work on our catching, fielding is very crucial and it can win us matches.
“We still have a couple of games more before we can look to the semi-finals and looking at how Sri Lanka has played and how Pakistan has played, every match is going to be crucial for us.â€
Squads
Pakistan: Sana Mir (captain), Asmavia Iqbal, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Ghulam Fatima, Iram Javed, Javeria Wadood, Kainat Imtiaz, Marina Iqbal, Bibi Nahida, Syeda Nain Fatima Abidi, Nashra Sundhu, Sadia Yousaf, Sidra Nawaz and Waheeda Akhter
India: Mithali Raj (captain), Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Smriti Mandhana, Mona Meshram, Nuzhat Parween, Shikha Pandey, Punam Raut, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma and Poonam
Umpires: Gregory Brathwaite and Shaun George
Match referee: Richie Richardson
