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COLOMBO: Pakistan women wrapped up a successful tour of Sri Lanka by winning the quadrangular one-day international (ODI) series in Colombo on Friday.
Pakistan, who earlier won the quadrangular Twenty20 series, bagged the ODI series with a nine-wicket win over Ireland at the Thurstan College Ground.
Ireland, who were sent in to bat by Pakistan captain Sana Mir, failed to post a reasonable total as only of their ten batters managed to get double-figure scores and lead them to 68, all out in 22.1 overs.
Masooma Junaid was the first one to take a wicket when she dismissed Louise McCarthy in the second over. Wickets then kept falling at regular intervals as Qanita Jalil and Sana Mir joined the wicket-taker’s list.
Ireland captain Clare Shillington survived 26 balls for her 19 runs before getting out leg-before-wicket to Sadia Yousuf in the ninth over. Laura Delany was the other batswoman to get into double figures (20) but she, too, couldn’t hold the Irish innings together for too long. All Pakistani bowlers contributed to the wickets but Bisma Mahroof with her four wickets in 4.1 overs and conceded seven runs. Ireland were bundled out for 68 in the 23rd over, when Delany became Bisma’s fourth victim.
Pakistan began the chase emphatically, with in-form openers Nida Dar and Javeria Khan at the crease. Nida fell in the fourth over after scoring seven runs, but Javeria continued attacking the Irish bowlers as she hit three fours in her innings of 47 runs off 50 balls. Javeria was joined by Bisma after Nida’s dismissal and the two batters ensured their team secured the win without the loss of any more wickets, and with 9.3 overs to go.
With the victory, Pakistan also won the quadrangular series, having collected the most points in the league-based tournament. Pakistan had earlier beaten Sri Lanka by wickets while their match against Netherlands was abandoned after 20 overs due to rain. The women in green, hence, ended the tournament with two wins and one no-result while Sri Lanka beat Netherlands, lost to Pakistan and had their match against Ireland abandoned to finish with one win, one loss and one no-result. Ireland were third with a win over Netherlands, loss against Sri Lanka and the match against Pakistan abandoned. Netherlands lost two matches and had one match end in no-result.
Pakistan remained unbeaten in their seven matches in Sri Lanka, starting with a win over Sri Lanka in the first one-off ODI before the T20 series, which they also won.
Batswomen and openers Nida Dar and Javeria Khan were impressive on the tour, especially Javeria, who scored 110 runs in her three ODI innings, carrying her bat on two occasions.
Among the bowlers, Bisma Mahroof and Qanita Jalil were the top wicket-takers with six wickets each while Masooma Junaid took five wickets in the four ODI matches.
