Gull Feroza’s belligerent fifty helped Pakistan beat Nepal by nine wickets here on Sunday and stay in contention for a semifinal berth in the women’s Asia Cup.
Feroza (57, 35b, 10×4) was helped copiously by her partner Muneeba Ali (46 not out, 34b, 8×4) as Pakistan raced past the target of 109 in just 11.5 overs. They added 105 runs for the opening wicket.
Now, the Nida Dar-led side has two points from as many Group A matches, and the win also has boosted their net run rate to +0.40.
However, Pakistan, which was beaten by India in its first match, will have to defeat UAE in its last group game to retain the semifinal hopes as Nepal also has two points.
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But for this position of relative comfort, Pakistan will have to thank Feroza and her aggressive intent.
The right-hand batter was on overdrive from the word go and reached her fifty in just 30 balls, a fierce cut off left-arm spinner Kritika Marasini to deep point taking her past the mark.
In contrast, Muneeba started slowly but found her range when she smashed left-arm spinner Sita Rana Magar for three fours in the sixth over.
Once the right-hand-left-hand combination at the pole position got going, Nepal bowlers had nowhere to hide.
Earlier, its Pakistan counterparts were in fine fettle and were led well by veteran left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal, who operated with the new ball to take two wickets for 19 runs.
Nepal was limited to a lowly 108 for six.
Kabita Joshi made a 31 (23b, 4×4, 1×6) towards the end to prop up the Nepal innings which was also marred by three run outs.
