LEICESTER: Winless Pakistan women’s cricket team will be aiming to register their first win in the ICC Women’s World Cup when they face the West Indies at Grace Road, Leicester on Tuesday.

Overcoming the West Indies will be the latest challenge Pakistan women face in the mega event, though both the teams know reaching the semi-finals is no longer a possibility.

“It is extremely important for us to end this tournament on a strong note,” Pakistan skipper Sana Mir said while commenting on the West Indies game, Pakistan’s penultimate in the mega event.

Pakistan’s women have so far lost five matches — against South Africa, England, India, Australia and New Zealand — on the trot in the preliminary round of the tournament.

Sana, however, believes that her side must be at their best to do well in what so far has been an absolutely dismal campaign.

Pakistan’s elimination from the event was confirmed last Saturday when they suffered an eight-wicket drubbing at the hands of New Zealand at Taunton. Sana’s team play their last preliminary round match of the World Cup against Sri Lanka on July 15.

Though in patches, Pakistan women have proven a match for any team, consistency remains the next step for them as they look to build on their competition experience.

That’s something captain Sana, who played her 100th ODI last Saturday, is hoping to achieve in Leicester on Tuesday.

“We started off with a strong game, then things started slipping off, so it’s extremely important to finish well,” the skipper said.

“We have to be patient with the team. Not having Bismah Maroof around makes things tougher for our batting department.”

Meanwhile, Stafanie Taylor, Sana’s West Indian counterpart, has set the same target for her team in Tuesday’s inconsequential game.

“We know how important these games are. We definitely want to win them and go home on a high,” the West Indies captain stated. “We’ve been fighting really hard to win a game and we know there are two more to go.

“Going into Tuesday’s game, we know it’s not going to be easy because Pakistan haven’t won a game [in this tournament] yet,” she asserted.

“We know Pakistan is an unusual team. They are going to come with their spinners because that’s what they mostly do to all the teams.We should counteract their bowlers,” Taylor added.

“Pakistan have always been a fighting team when they are playing against anyone, but I think everyone thinks West Indies is a team they want to beat. They all come out hard against us.”

Squads:

PAKISTAN: Sana Mir (captain), Asmavia Iqbal, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Ghulam Fatima,Iram Javed, Javeria Wadood, Kainat Imtiaz, Marina Iqbal, Bibi Nahida, Nain Abidi, Nashra Sundhu, Sadia Yousaf, Sidra Nawaz, Waheeda Akhter.

WEST INDIES: Stafanie Taylor (captain), Merissa Aguilleira, Reniece Boyce, Shamilia Connell, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Akeira Peters, Shakera Selman, Felicia Walters, Kycia Knight, Subrina Munroe.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2017