‘Really went hard out there’ – Watkin stars in White Ferns win

Sophie Devine returned to a more familiar spot at the top of the batting order, and scored 32 in 31 balls, Suzie Bates added 35 in 31, Amy Satterthwaite and Katey Martin chipped in with 20s, and New Zealand put up 144/6.

It wasn’t a daunting target, but none of the Pakistan batters apart from Javeria Khan (36 in 23) really got going as Amelia Kerr returned 3/21 and Player of the Match Jess Watkin 3/9.

With Australia and India winning all three of their games so far, New Zealand’s run in the tournament is over.

“I think we just kind of put it behind us and just focused on our bowling and really went hard out there,” said Watkin after the game. “The last few games haven't been too good, but I think we kind of worked hard at training and came out and gave our all today.”

For Pakistan, captaincy is certainly working out well for Javeria, who had also hit 74* in the game against Ireland, the only one Pakistan have won. This one didn’t go too well, like the ones against India and Australia.

“We were not this clinical with our bowling. We were good in patches, and throughout the match we didn't field well. It was a good toss to win. We should have restricted them under 110 to 115 because the pitch wasn't offering much pace,” summed up Javeria.

The bowling wasn’t at its best, and the fielding was well below par – two catches were dropped in the 13th over, for example.

“It’s not only about 13th over. We missed a few run-out chances. If you could avail those chances the game would be different. Throughout the 20 overs we didn't field well. If the fielding was at par, the score would've been low down,” said Javeria.

It has been a decent performance on the whole for Pakistan, with Javeria, Bismah Maroof and Nida Dar scoring half-centuries at different points, and the bowlers mostly holding their own.

“I'll be positive. The kind of cricket these girls have played … they have played better cricket throughout the World T20. We made mistakes, but we'll grow as a unit with more matches we get,” said Javeria.

“The players were expressive. If someone has less exposure … so when we get into these kind of situations, a few of us don't know what to do. With more matches, we'll get better. I would say there were many positives, and every girl should be proud of the fact that they have played this World T20. Our group was strong and it didn't affect us and they played good cricket.

“We have made mistakes and we'll come back stronger and cut down our mistakes and just carry the positives which we have done.”

Pakistan won’t go further in the tournament, but have seen two of the top teams from up close: Australia and India. On the evidence in front of her, Javeria’s clear on who the tournament favourites are: Australia, “by far”.