Pakistan women comfortably overcame Bangladesh women by 31 runs in their bronze-medal playoff and secured the bronze medal at the Women’s Asian Games in Nisshin on Tuesday. Deciding to bat, Pakistan got off to a promising start, with openers Shawal Zulfiqar (17) and Gull Feroza (31) adding 46 runs for the opening wicket.
However, their innings suddenly lost momentum as Bangladesh struck repeatedly through the middle overs, with Pakistan slipping to 67/5. Fatima Sana, meanwhile, took control of the innings, joining Aliya Riaz for an important 67-run partnership to take Pakistan to 145/8 in 20 overs.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, had a poor start failing to recover from early setbacks. During the powerplay, Bangladesh lost three wickets for 25 runs. Their chase was, however, revived when captain Nigar Sultana (25) and Sharmin Akhter (46*) forged a 47-run partnership.
Still, Bangladesh struggled to pile up runs against Pakistan’s brilliant spell. Pakistan’s off-spinner Umm-e-Hani stood out with an impressive spell, finishing with three wickets from her four overs while only giving away 10 runs.