Pakistan Women’s Cricket team gears up for Asian Games 2023
Pakistan Women’s team will begin their campaign with a quarter-final match on September 21
The Pakistan Women’s cricket team has commenced its preparations for the Asian Games 2023. The team recently did intensive training sessions at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket field.
During their training, the national players focused on rigorous fielding drills and participated in net sessions to fine-tune their skills. The Pakistan Women’s team is scheduled to begin their Asian Games 2023 campaign with a quarter-final match on September 21.
This marks Pakistan's return to the Asian Games cricket competition after their gold medal-winning performances in the 2010 and 2014 editions.
Eight teams are in contention for medals in the Asian Games 2023 women’s cricket tournament. India are making their debut at the continental meet.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - the top-four ranked teams in the ICC Women’s T20I rankings as of June 1, 2023, are the top seeds and will start directly from the quarter-final stage.
The remaining four teams, meanwhile, have been divided into two groups of two teams each for the preliminary round. After round-robin matches and a quarter-final qualifier, the fixtures for the top eight will be drawn up.
The two losing semi-finalists will meet in the bronze medal playoff on September 25 while the gold medal match will take place later on the same day.
Notably, the team recently faced South Africa in a series of ODIs and T20Is, where the hosts dominated the T20I series with a whitewash. However, the visitors managed to claim the ODI series with a 2-1 victory. In a remarkable comeback, Pakistan women’s team chased down a target of 186 runs comfortably, losing only two wickets and with 72 balls to spare, thanks to an outstanding partnership between Sidra Ameen and Bismah Maroof.
The early loss of opener Sadaf Shamas was overcome by the brilliant partnership between Sidra Ameen and Bismah Maroof, who added 110 runs for the second wicket, with both players scoring half-centuries.
Sidra Ameen top-scored with a 68-ball 68, featuring six boundaries, before being dismissed in the 33rd over. Bismah Maroof remained unbeaten with 60 runs off 98 deliveries, including five boundaries, and was ably supported by Aliya Riaz (19*) in steering Pakistan to a commanding victory.
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