Women World T20: Sana says her rise will inspire Pak girls

LAHORE: Pakistan and Australia won their respective Women’s World Twenty20 warm-up games.

Pakistan picked up a narrow eight-run win over Bangladesh in Guyana. Pakistan, electing to bat first, scored 106/7 in their 20 overs with Bismah Maroof scoring 22 runs and skipper Javeria Khan made 21 runs for the team.

Nida Dar and Ayesha Zafar scored 19 and 18 runs respectively. Salma Khatun and Khadija Tul Kubra grabbed two wickets for the Bangladesh side. Pakistan restricted the opposition to 98/9 in 20 overs. Fargana Hoque was the top scorer with 28 runs while Rumana Ahmed and Lata Mondal made 10 runs each for the side. Aiman Anwer, Sana Mir and Bismah Maroof took two wickets each.

Australia defeated South Africa by 51 runs. The Australian side made 130/4 in their 20 overs with Meg Lanning scoring an unbeaten 65 runs. Shabnam Ismail grabbed two wickets while Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus took a wicket each as well. The Proteas were restricted to 79/9 in their 20 overs as only three players scored in double figures.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Sana Mir believes that her rise to the top of the ODI bowling rankings will inspire Pakistani girls to pick cricket as a profession. “It’s a great feeling to be No 1,” she said while speaking to the International Cricket Council. “But more importantly, why this No 1 ranking is important to me is that it will give a lot of confidence to young girls, especially in Pakistan, that they can reach the top of any sport they pick,” she said. “A lot of times, when sports are being organised in Pakistan, a lot of sponsors and corporations ask whether the Pakistani girls are good enough to take up the sport as a career.”

The former Pakistani captain went on to say that she thinks her No 1 ranking should end the debate about girls opting for sports as a profession.“If I can achieve this No 1 ranking, any girl in Pakistan who puts in hard work and is true to the game can do that in any sport,” she said. Mir recalled that she fell in love with cricket after playing street cricket and chasing her brother’s tape balls around the back of her house.

Earlier Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup (WT20) which is going to be held in West Indies from 9 to 24 November.

Captained by Javeria Wadood, Pak squad includes Sana Mir, Sidra Nawaz (WK), Bibi Nahida, Nashra Sundhu, Ayesha Zafar, Anum Amin, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Natalia Parvaiz, Bismah Maroof, Aliya Riaz, Omaima Sohail, Diana Baig, Nida Rashid and Aiman Anwar.