Pakistan women’s team creates history against South Africa

Pakistan women’s team on Monday achieved a historic feat against South Africa when they defeated the visitors in the third T20I, effectively becoming the first Asian nation to complete a whitewash over South Africa at home.

Skipper Nida Dar, Sadia Iqbal and Nashra Sandhu were phenomenal on the field helping Pakistan secure a thrilling win in Karachi.

Earlier, Pakistan were put into bat first by South African captain Laura Wolvaardt. After completing two chases thus far, Pakistan was put into bat first for the first time this series.

Pakistan had a steady start, scoring 41 in the powerplay, with both Shawaal Zulfiqar and Sidra Amin contributing to the scorecard.

Even after the partnership was broken by Nonkululeko Mlaba, who got Shawaal out, the Pakistani scorecard did not stutter for long.

A 49-run partnership between Sidra and Bismah Maroof, and then another 49-run-partnership between Bismah and Nida Dar ensured that Pakistan got to 150.

Considering that the hosts had chased 151 twice in the series, defending the same score felt like a big ask, especially considering the batting prowess of the visiting side. A magnificent 72 by Laura allowed South Africa to remain in the game till the last over.

However, the South African captain’s efforts were not matched by other batters that came to the crease. The second-highest score on the South African batting was 20*, coming off Nadine de Klerk’s bat.

The left-arm spin duo of Sundhu and Iqbal, who have had much success throughout the series, proved too heavy an ask for the South African batters. With two wickets each to their name, Nashra and Sadia made sure that 151 remained unsurmountable for the visitors.

With the T20I series comfortably completed in favour of the hosts, all eyes will now be on the ODI series. The first ODI will be played on 8 September 2023 at 3:30 pm (PST).