Fairy tale debutant downs Sri Lanka in first WT20I

Rival captains Bismah Maroof and Chamari Athapaththu pose with the trophy that they will be fighting for over three T20Is 

Leg-spinner Tuba Hassan enjoyed a fairy tale debut as she spearheaded Pakistan to a straightforward six-wicket win in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Karachi yesterday.

Brought on in the tenth over, her four-over stint blew through the Sri Lankan middle order, as she conceded just eight runs, bowling a maiden along the way and taking three wickets. A slightly conservative Sri Lanka were kept to 106 for 8. Pakistan started slowly and lost three early wickets of their own, but a 51-run stand between Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar put them back on track, with Dar’s unbeaten 27-ball 36 ensuring Pakistan got to the target with ten balls to spare.

Choosing to bat first, Sri Lanka lost wickets in each of Anam Amin’s first two overs, including the all-important wicket of Chamari Athapaththu. Pakistan were keeping things tight, and even a 38-run

third wicket stand never quite threatened to take the game away from them. 

With Sri Lanka content to take singles instead of looking for boundaries, the spinners felt emboldened to flight the ball generously, getting into their rhythms from the outset. When Aiman Anwar rocked Nilakshi de Silva’s leg stump, Sri Lanka had lost their most dangerous batter, and any hopes of pushing the target to a run-a-ball faded.

Scores

• Sri Lanka Women 106-8 (20) (Harshitha Madavi 25, Nilakshi de Silva 25, Anam Amin 3/21, Aiman Anwar 2/32, Tuba Hasan 3/8) 
• Pakistan Women 107-4 (18.2) (Bismah Maroof 28, Nidar Dar 36*, Oshadi Ranasinghe 2/20)