New Delhi. Pakistan started with a win in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka. The Pakistani team defended its 116 runs very well. Sri Lanka's team collapsed at 85 runs for 9 wickets while chasing the target of 117 runs. After the flop show of Pakistani batsmen, the bowlers saved their honor. With this victory, Pakistan has also opened its account in the points table in the World Cup. Now in the second match, Pakistan will face India on 6 October. Captain Fatima Sana was given the Player of the Match award for her all-round performance.

In this match played in Sharjah, Pakistan had given a target of 117 runs to Sri Lanka (PAK-W vs SL-W). Sri Lanka's innings faltered from the beginning. Half of its team had returned to the pavilion with a score of 52. Neelakshi de Silva scored the highest 22 runs while opener Vishmi Gunaratne contributed 20 runs. Only two batsmen of Sri Lanka could touch the double-digit mark. For Pakistan, Sadia Iqbal took 3 wickets while Fatima Sana, Omaima Suhail, and Nashra Sandhu took two wickets each.

Earlier, the spin duo of Chamari Atapattu and Sugandhika Kumari and medium pacer Udeshika Prabodhini together took 9 wickets. With this, Sri Lanka bowled out Pakistan for 116 runs. If Pakistan's team was able to reach triple digits, then the credit goes to captain Fatima Sana who played an innings of 30 runs in 20 balls. From Sri Lanka's side, Sugandhika (19/3) played an important role in wrapping up the top order, Atapattu (18/3) in the middle order, and Prabodhini (203) in the lower order.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Pakistan had to struggle from the very beginning against Sri Lanka's spin attack. They lost the wickets of their top three batsmen Gul Ferozza (02), Muniba Ali (11), and Sidra Amin (12) in the power play itself. Meanwhile, Pakistan scored 32 runs. Experienced Nida Dar (23) along with Amima Sohail (18) tried to improve the innings but after their 25-run partnership for the fourth wicket broke, Pakistan's middle order faltered. In such a situation, Fatima Sana took the responsibility. Despite not getting enough support from the other end, she hit some powerful shots and took Pakistan to a respectable score. Fatima hit three fours and a six in her innings.