New Zealand coach wary of Pakistan’s ‘impressive’ bowling

COLOMBO: New Zealand head coach Ben Sawyer hailed Pakistan’s bowling attack as ‘impressive’ ahead of their crucial ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 match, scheduled to be played here at the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.

Pakistan, who are at the bottom of the standings with just one point in four matches, troubled two former champions – Australia and England – in their previous two games with their spirited bowling.

The Green Shirts had Australia reeling at 76/7 in 21.1 overs, but a defiant century by Beth Mooney rescued them to a fighting total, while a collective bowling effort eventually led them to a resounding 107-run victory.

In their next match, Pakistan’s bowling attack fired once again and reduced England to 133/9 in 31 overs.

Set to chase a revised target of 113, they were on course to register their first-ever victory over England in Women’s ODIs as they were 34/0 in 6.4 overs, but the second rain interruption proved decisive, and the match was called off.

The Green Shirts next face another former champions, New Zealand, on Saturday, and their coach, Sawyer, while addressing the pre-match conference here on the eve of the crucial Women’s World Cup clash, expressed his admiration of Pakistan’s bowling for challenging ‘two of the top nations’.

"Their top order is, they made it look like light work of maybe chasing down that total the other night," Sawyer stated.

"So, they've been impressive. They've really challenged a couple of weeks or two of the top nations. So, been impressed in particular with their bowling,” he added.