Pakistan women cricket team takes 4th spot in ICC Championship

Pakistan Women Cricket Team and England Women Team shared a point each as rain washed-out the third and final ICC Women's Championship ODI between them at Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. The addition of one point took Pakistan's tally to 16 and saw them leapfrog South Africa Women to the fourth spot on the points table, while England, with 29 points, strengthened their hold on the second position, a PCB spokesman, said.

The conclusion of the ODI series - which England won 2-0 - also culminated both teams' ICC Women's Championship journey. The top-four teams on the standings, along with hosts New Zealand Women, will secure direct qualification for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2021.

According to a message received here, England captain Heather Knight won the toss for the third time in the series and elected to bowl. Though the match began on the scheduled time, the toss was delayed by 15 minutes due to drizzle. England made one change in their line-up with pacer Freya Davis, who replaced Kate Cross, making her ODI debut.

Pakistan, making three changes, also handed an ODI debut as batter Kaynat Hafeez replaced Sidra Amin. The other two changes saw Anam Amin and Aroob Shah come in at the places of Nashra Sandhu and Rameen Shamim. Pakistan were provided a solid foundation by openers Nahida Khan and Javeria Khan as the pair put together the record for the highest first-wicket partnership for Pakistan Women. Their 96-run partnership surpassed Maliha Hussain and Sharmeen Khan's and Ayesha Zafar and Nahida Khan's 84-run stands against South Africa (1997) and New Zealand (2016) respectively.

Javeria Khan, while reflecting on the partnership, said: "A lot of credit for this partnership goes to Nahida. She was brilliant out in the middle. She played the ball on merit while dispatching bad deliveries. Our plan was to prolong our partnership rather than making any records. But it is certainly a good feeling to have one against a quality side like England."

She said, "It is nothing less than an achievement for Pakistan to break into top-four. It is the result of all the hard work everyone attached with the Pakistan side - whether the management of the past and present or the players - has put in. Going forward we have to hold our nerves in pressure situations. We have often lost control of matches despite coming very close. Our players have the skills which are required to thrive at this level, it is just they need to work on controlling their nerves."

Speaking about her bowling performance, Sarah Glenn said: "I was really happy to get four wickets today, but it's a shame the rain came and the game had to be abandoned. We came back really well with the ball after Pakistan had started on top. We kept it tight and we got our rewards. I've really enjoyed the three matches and it's good to come out with a series win. The girls have been really welcoming and I'm looking forward to the T20Is."

Knight, the England captain, was awarded player of the series award for scoring 127 runs in the series at an average of 63.50 and taking two wickets.

The ODI series will be followed by three T20Is, which will be played at Kinrara Oval on 17th, 19th and 20th December.