COLOMBO – Pakistan will face off Bangladesh today (Thursday) to kick off their campaign in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
The match will start at 2:30 am.
Pakistan qualified for the mega event after maintaining a 100 per cent win record in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier held in Lahore earlier this year.
Before the tournament, Pakistan featured in a three-match ODI series in Lahore against South Africa, which the latter won 2-1.
Seven players – Eyman Fatima (1 ODI, 3 T20Is), Natalia Parvaiz (11 ODIs, 24 T20Is), Rameen Shamim (11 ODIs, 11 T20Is), Sadaf Shamas (15 ODIs, 12 T20Is), Sadia Iqbal (29 ODIs, 50 T20Is), Shawaal Zulfiqar (4 ODIs, 9 T20Is) and Syeda Aroob Shah (3 ODIs, 15 T20Is) are set to feature in their maiden ODI World Cup.
Pakistan will play all their group-stage matches at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
Should Pakistan qualify for the 29 October semi-final and the 2 November final, then both the matches will take place in Colombo.
Fatima Sana, captain Pakistan women’s cricket team, said: “Our preparations for the World Cup have been focused and purposeful. We have worked on the areas where improvement was needed and it is encouraging to see the progress we have made. This process really started in the Qualifiers, where we had a strong campaign, winning all our matches to secure our place in this mega event”.
Pakistan Squad
Fatima Sana (captain), Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (vice-captain), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper) and Syeda Aroob Shah
