194/9 (50.0)
CR : 3.88
265/8 (50.0)
CR : 5.30
New Zealand Women won by 71 runs
Player of the Match
Suzie Bates
126(135)
NZW won by 71 runs
That's the end of this tournament for both of these teams. While New Zealand return with 3 wins from 7 games, Pakistan end up at the bottom of the table (unless Bangladesh lose their final game with an unreal margin), with just 1 win from 7 games. Though many would say 266 was a gettable target on this wicket, Pakistan never seemed to have the impetus to pull this chase off.
Both Muneeba Ali and Sidra Ameen looked decent for a while in the beginning before losing their wickets. The ship was then stabilised by skipper Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar. However, no one took responsibility after these two to take the side over the line. Aliya Riaz continued to disappoint and was out for just 1. The game was already over by then as the lower middle order and the tail couldn't really pull this chase off.
For the White Ferns, Hannah Rowe was simply superb during the second innings, picking up 5/55 from her 10 overs. Frances Mackay, on the other hand, was not only economical throughout her spell but also grabbed some important scalps. All others, including Rosemary Mair, Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, and Amy Satterthwaite kept it tight during the chase, giving Pakistan no chance of gaining the momentum needed for chasing the total down.
Suzie Bates is the Player of the Match.
Suzie Bates | Player of the Match: "Earlier in the week, when we lost to England, we knew that it would be hard to reach the semis and it was difficult to lift ourselves. We gathered
ourselves and tried to be at our best today. I didn’t have the best of the
tournaments. I was always looking to contribute to the team’s success and today it
paid off. Guess I would share this player of the match award with Rowe for her excellent bowling performance."
Hannah Rowe: "Nice to finish with a fifer after being hit in the powerplay. This has been a tough week for the girls and credit for them to come out today and put in a performance like this. I think Suzie deserves this player of the match award."
Bismah Maroof | Losing Captain: "Yes, I think so. We gave away too many runs in the end and let the opportunities slip. We should have restricted them under 240. The set batters Nida and myself got out at the wrong time and that cost us the game. Too much to do. It hurts we could have won 3-4 games and it hurts us a lot. We will be happy with the win against West Indies and the Sidra hundred against Bangladesh, plus Nida's all-around performance was exceptional. So, we have had a few boxes to tick and we did that. We will go back home and reflect on how we can improve going forward. All in all, a few positives to take and we will work on improving in certain aspects in the coming days."
Sophie Devine | Winning Captain: "Today is pretty bittersweet. Suzie was outstanding, so was Hannah Rowe. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side in multiple games in this tournament. This has been the most competitive World Cup I have been a part of. It's becoming a norm. The wickets have been outstanding. The credit goes to the groundsmen. We have been extremely lucky to have had such great wickets. However, we're gutted to be returning like this. We're lucky to have some time off. I would like to reflect on the things that have transpired over the last few months and reconnect with the family. I would definitely like to continue hitting the ground."
That's all from today's fixture. Two more league games remain before we head into the knockout stage of the tournament. Do join us for the remaining matches as well. For now, it's me, Ajay, along with my fellow commentators Akshay and Ayan and scorer Ashok, signing off. Goodbye!