Dubai: Pakistan will play Sri Lanka in the Women's Asia Cup semifinal on Friday after they handily beat minnows Hong King in the final Group A contest. They finished second in their group with a 71 run win set up by a record breaking spell of six wickets for seven runs by Nashra Sandhu and a solid performance by Shawaal Zulfiqar with the bat.
Pakistan's innings
Pakistan scored 143 for 8 after choosing to bat first for the third time in as many matches, with Ayesha Zafar and Fatima Sana making valuable contributions while Zulfiqar put in a solid 35 from 47 to steady the innings. Despite batting on a challenging surface that played slow and gripped, Zulfiqar timed the ball well as she struck six boundaries, stitching an important partnership of 47 off 34 with AyeshaZafar before the latter fell in the tenth over. No Pakistan batter, barring Zafar and Fatima, was able to emulate her in an innings which saw only four batters post in the double digits.
Sandhu shines
Chasing a modest total, Hong Kong nevertheless succumbed quickly at just 71 all out, after needing to overhaul the 144 run target inside 12.3 overs to beat Pakistan in the race to the semifinals. It was always going to be an uphill task considering Pakistan's strong bowling which has been their strength this tournament and made up for weaknesses with the bat. Nashra Shawaal decimated the batting side with her stellar performance with 6/7, the first time a Pakistan bowler has bagged a six wickets in a women's T20.
Pakistan will now fancy their chances against a strong Sri Lanka side but will fancy their chances after their
