Greetings and welcome to our continued live coverage of the Women's Cricket World Cup. Pakistan face New Zealand tonight in a cloudy Colombo, and stay with us for the build-up, weather and latest match updates.
Greetings and welcome to our continued live coverage of the Women's Cricket World Cup. Pakistan face New Zealand tonight in a cloudy Colombo, and stay with us for the build-up, weather and latest match updates.
Pakistan, who sit at the bottom of the table after 4 matches, are in a must win situation today when they face New Zealand in Colombo. A loss or a washout in Colombo will seriously hurt their top 4 ambitions. They must win every game from now on.
New Zealand have an overwhelming advantage over Pakistan in Women's ODIs. The Asians have come out on top only once with the White Ferns have come out victorious on 15 occasions.
Matches: 17
PAK-W Wins: 1
NZ-W Wins: 15
Tied: 1
Matches - 4
PAK-W Wins - 0
NZ-W Wins - 4
New Zealand have won the toss in Colombo and they will be bowling first. The White Ferns have made one change to their playing XI from their last game against Sri-Lanka. Pakistan's XI remain unchanged.
Pakistan XI: Muneeba Ali, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana(c), Sidra Nawaz(w), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal
New Zealand XI: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine(c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze(w), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson
Suzie Bates (NZ-W) - 874 runs in 15 matches
Amy Satterthwaite (NZ-W) - 488 runs in 11 matches
Sophie Devine (NZ-W) - 481 runs in 13 matches
Bismah Maroof (PAK-W) - 417 runs in 14 matches
Javeria Khan (PAK-W) - 268 runs in 9 matches
Pakistan and New Zealand have taken the field for their respective national anthems in Colombo.
Opener Muneeba Ali steers Rosemary Mair's leg-sided delivery for a four. First runs for Pakistan.
Muneeba Ali gives a positive start to Pakistan, scoring 2 boundaries off Rosemary Mair.
Muneeba Ali has got Pakistan off to a flying start here in Colombo in what is a must win game. She has scored 4 fours already and has played some really delightful shots. That's the kind of start Fatima Sana and co. required.
After a shaky start, New Zealand have struck and got their first wicket in the form of Omaima Sohail. Lea Tahuhu kept it straight with the ball holding its line and crashing onto Omaima's knee roll. Pakistan are 30/1 after 7 overs.
The momentum has flipped all of a sudden as New Zealand remove both the openers from the crease. Big blow for Pakistan as Muneeba Ali, who was looking in fine form since the start of the game, hands a simple catch to Jess Kerr while trying to pull away Suzie Bates' short-pitched delivery. Bates did well to move towards her right.
New Zealand have broken the brief partnership between Sidra Ameen and Aliya Riaz. Lea Tahuhu gets her 2nd wicket of the day. She bowled a short and wide outside off stump delivery which Sidra tried to cut away but could not keep the ball down. Eden Carson flew to her right and took a stunner.
Same story, different day here in Colombo. The game between Pakistan and New Zealand has been stopped due to rain as the ground staff dart into the field with the covers. Stay tuned for further updates.
The ground staff has not covered the entire ground as the rain appears to be a light passing shower. However, for the match to resume, the rain needs to stop completely. Stay tuned for the updates.
The rain has intensified in Colombo and the ground staff have brought the remaining covers on the field. There is 92% cloud cover in the region with the forecast suggesting that there will be more rain later in the evening. Trouble for Pakistan. Stay tuned for the latest updates.
Amelia Kerr - 20 wickets in 13 matches
Hannah Rowe - 16 wickets in 10 matches
Lea Tahuhu - 16 wickets in 12 matches
Sana Mir - 15 wickets in 11 matches
Thamsyn Newton - 9 wickets in 5 matches
We have some good news from Colombo. The rain has started to ease off and the ground staff have removed some of the covers. The Umpires are having a chat and are constantly assessing the conditions. Match can resume anytime with a few overs reduced.
Good news, the game is set to begin shortly in Colombo with revised playing conditions. It will now be a 46-over affair with a 9 over powerplay. The target will be adjusted as per the Duckworth-Lewis system. 1 bowler can bowl a maximum of 10 overs and 4 bowlers can bowl a maximum of 9 overs.
After losing 3 wickets before the rain delay, Pakistan have resumed their innings in Colombo with Aliya Riyaz and Natalia Pervaiz batting with caution as they aim to set up a strong partnership for the 4th wicket.
Eden Carson prevents Pakistan from setting up a partnership as she removes Natalia Pervaiz from the crease for 10 off 22. Pervaiz was looking to go skywards but the ball could not find the distance and landed safely in Sophie Devine's hands.
Wicket number 5 for the White Ferns. Amelia Kerr cleans up Fatima Sana with an absolute beauty of a delivery. The Pakistani skipper departs with a sad face and a score of 2 off 4.
This is getting rather frustrating now. Colombo sees another spell of rain and the match, which is already down to a 46-over contest, is interrupted for the second time. The downpour intensifies and we will certainly lose a few more overs.
PAK-W: 92/5 (25)
The rain appears to be almost over as the downpour has reduced in intensity, only a light drizzle now. Stay tuned with us for the major updates.
It is still drizzling at the R. Premadasa Stadium but there is an update from Colombo. If and when the game resumes, the White Ferns will chase whatever the target is set in accordance to the DLS method, within 20 overs.
The rain is still on in Colombo. There was an update that the match will be a 36-over affair instead of 46, but the drizzle is not stopping at all. The cut-off time for a 20-over game is still 9:41PM (IST).
Unfortunately, the rain does not seem to stop and this will hurt Pakistan a lot. A washout will mean that they will miss out from a top-four spot in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 points table. They will be praying for the game to start. Cut-off time for the start is still 9:41PM (IST).
As the match between Pakistan and New Zealand resumes, find out how India can secure qualification in the semi-finals of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025.
The downpour has not stopped in Colombo with the cut-off time fast approaching. Even if the rain stops, the match is likely to be called off as the ground staff will need a considerable amount of time to make the outfield playable.
Bad news for Pakistan as their match against New Zealand has been called off in Colombo. The Women in Green are no longer in contention for the top 4 spots in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 points table. Regardless, Fatima Sana and co. will look to end the tournament on a high in their remaining games against South Africa and Sri-Lanka.
Pakistan's remaining 2 games will be against South Africa and Sri-Lanka on 21st and 24th October.
New Zealand's remaining 2 games are against India and England on 23rd and 26th October.
Tags