Knight leads by example as England thrash Pakistan

KARACHI: Newly-appointed England skipper Heather Knight led from the front as England Women cruised to victory in their first One-day International against Pakistan Women at Grace Road, Leicester.

The match was to be played on Monday, but heavy downpour took it to the reserve day.

After winning the toss, Knight sent the Pakistani women to the slaughter. Pakistan, led by Sana Mir, struggled to reach a meager total of 165 all out in the 46th over.

Sidra Ameen scored a valiant 52 off 79 balls, striking eight fours, but the other batswomen failed to do much.

The next high scorer was No 9 Asmavia Iqbal who scored 22.

Bismah Maroof (13), Nain Abidi (10), Nida Dar (   18), Sidra Nawaz (12) were the others who managed double figures.

The English skipper bagged five wickets for 26, including that of Ameen’s.

Knight was aided by Katherine Brunt who picked up two wickets for 24.

Asmavia got English opener L Winfield before she could open her account and Sana Mir dismissed GA Elwiss early, but the other opener Tammy Beaumont scored 96 for the third wicket with skipper Knight to guide England to an easy win. Knight scored 50 not out off 70 balls, hitting five boundaries. Beaumont scored 70 from 75 balls with 11 fours.

Their performances led England to a seven-wicket triumph with an impressive 109 balls to spare. Knight had the dream start to her captaincy as she also won the player of the match award for her stellar all-round performance.

The two teams play their second ODI at Worcester on Wednesday (today).

Pakistan’s hopes could rest on the shoulders of left-arm spinner Anam Amin who is currently the women’s highest wicket-taker in the championship.

Score Board

England Women won toss

Pakistan Women

Sidra Ameen c & b Knight    52

Javeria Khan c Jones b Brunt         7

Bismah Maroof b Cross       13

Nain Abidi lbw b Sciver        10

Iram Javed c Winfield b Knight       5

*Sana Mir c & b Knight        8

Nida Dar b Brunt      18

†Sidra Nawaz c Jones b Marsh       12

Asmavia Iqbal c Cross b Knight       22

Sania Khan c Beaumont b Knight     2

Anam Amin not out   0

Extras (lb 1, w 15)    16

Total (all out; 45.4 overs)    165

Fall: 1-12, 2-48, 3-74, 4-93, 5-106, 6-107, 7-129, 8-145, 9-165, 10-165

Bowling: Brunt 9-1-24-2 (6w); Shrubsole 8-0-28-0 (3w); Cross 4-1-24-1 (3w); Sciver 6-0-29-1 (3w); Marsh 10-0-33-1; Knight 8.4-1-26-5

England Women

L Winfield c Nain b Asmavia  0

T T Beaumont c Sidra b Asmavia    70

G A Elwiss b Sana     12

*H C Knight not out   50

N R Sciver not out    27

Extras (lb 1, w 6)     7

Total (3 wickets; 31.5 overs)         166

Did not bat: K H Brunt, K L Cross, †A E Jones, L A Marsh, A Shrubsole, D N Wyatt

Fall: 1-0, 2-33, 3-129

Bowling: Asmavia 6.5-0-49-2 (1w); Sania 4-0-27-0 (3w); Sana 7-0-25-1; Anam 5-0-22-0; Nida 5-0-15-0 (1w); Bismah 3-0-16-0 (1w); Iram 1-0-11-0

Result: England Women won by 7 wickets

ICC Women’s Championship points: England Women 2, Pakistan Women 0

Series: England Women lead the 3-match series by 1-0

Player of the match: H C Knight (England Women)

Umpires: M J Saggers and A G Wharf. Match referee: D T Jukes