Thrilling climax sees West Indies beat Pakistan

MATCH CENTRE AND SCORECARD

Pakistan will feel they should have chased down their target, and almost did in a final over that went for 14 runs.

But it wasn’t to be, as Pakistan fell three runs shy of West Indies’ score despite the late drama.

The result means that West Indies have won two on the bounce after suffering a run of 15-straight defeats prior to Friday's game against Ireland.

And the loss for Pakistan sees them miss a big chance to put pressure on India in the battle for qualification for the knockout stages, as well as guaranteeing England's progress to the semi-finals from Group 2.

Muneeba Ali Siddiqui was the first wicket to fall in the second innings, dismissed by Hayley Matthews for 5 (11 balls).

And the all-round quality of Matthews was on show moments later when she produced a stunning catch to send Sidra Amin back to the dugout for a slow 8 (15).

Pakistan struggled to pick up the scoring as the required rate began to rise significantly, with the score at just 40/2 after ten overs.

And the game drifted towards the death as Pakistan made a meal of the run chase, with the outstanding Matthews returning the stand-out figures for her team.

Bismah Maroof (26 from 33) and Nida Dar (27 from 31) were unable to build on the platform they’d set for themselves, and the match went into the final over with Pakistan requiring 18 to win.

Aliya Riaz and Fatima Sana Khan almost rescued Pakistan, hitting three boundaries from the first four balls to set up a dramatic conclusion.

But Riaz was bowled for 29 from 23 off the penultimate ball of the innings. And the final ball flicked the pads of new batter Omaima Sohail to head for a leg bye as Pakistan missed the opportunity to strengthen their qualification chances.

Earlier, a subdued batting performance saw West Indies never really get going, despite a number of batters making starts.

Nida Dar finished with the pick of the figures for Pakistan, taking 2/13 in her four overs.

It was Matthews who won the toss and opted to bat first, and her side made a decent start, with the captain once again playing an initial stabilising role at the top of the order.

But Pakistan picked up the key wicket when Matthews clipped a catch to Sidra Amin off Fatima Sana Khan for a 21-ball 20, leaving the score at 34/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

Without the services of the injured Stafanie Taylor, West Indies turned to Rashada Williams and Shemaine Campbelle alongside Matthews in their top three, and the pair stood up to lift the total to 73 before Williams was caught and bowled by Sadia Iqbal for 30 (34 balls).

There was a spot of confusion when Campbelle was caught in the outfield with the batter nor the catcher noticing that dead-ball had already been called before the ball had been released, giving Campbelle a reprieve.

But West Indies were unable to truly build on the platform set, with Campbelle falling for 22 (26), Chinelle Henry dismissed for 11 (10), Aaliyah Alleyne going for 9 (9) and Shabika Gajnabi the last batter to fall for 13 (15).

The total felt insufficient, but the excellence of some of the West Indies bowlers and the lack of attacking intent from Pakistan meant that 116 proved just about enough.

England are through to the semi-finals thanks to this result, and it will now take two big upsets to deny India the other qualification place.

Pakistan and West Indies are still theoretically in contention, but it would require India to lose to Ireland for either of those teams to stand a chance to go through.

Women's T20 World Cup 2023 Standings

West Indies would progress if India lost to Ireland by a heavy-enough margin to slip into third on Net Run Rate.

And for Pakistan, they would need India to lose to Ireland by any margin, and then for themselves to beat highly-fancied England in their final match to leapfrog both India and Pakistan into second place.

Few teams rely on one player as much as this current West Indies side does on captain Hayley Matthews.

When she fails with the bat so too, often, does her side. And her reaction to being out for 20 at the top of the order in this game showed just how much pressure is on her shoulders.

But Matthews is an all-round threat, and she was wonderful with the ball too, proving extremely hard to score off and taking 2/14 from her four overs.

And not content with contributing with bat and ball, the captain pulled off a superb catch too, snaffling a tough chance to remove Sidra Amin.

Still just 24 years old, Matthews is already a star of the world game and it will be fascinating to see how her career progresses from here.