KARACHI: Invincibles left-arm pacer Neha Sharmin Nadeem spearheaded a commanding eight-wicket victory over league leaders Conquerors in the National Wom­en’s T20 Tournament’s sixth round, while Strikers thrashed Stars by nine wickets on Wednesday.

At the National Bank Stadium, Neha took three wickets while giving away only 14 runs as she dismantled Conquerors top order, dismissing openers Aleena Shah and Saira Jabeen for golden ducks before cleaning up Najiha Alvi — who played a run-a-ball innings of 16 — to reduce Conquerors to 37-3.

Skipper Fatima Sana — the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 252 runs — anchored a fightback with a 32-ball 41, her innings laced with seven boundaries, adding 33 with Hafsa (24 off 35).

However, Tania Saeed (2-18) removed Fatima as Conquerors limped to 107-8 in 20 overs.

Invincibles’ chase began shakily with skipper Muneeba Ali (six) falling to Humna Bilal, but Ayesha Zafar and Omaima Sohail 91-run partnership sealed the win and handed Conquerors their first loss of this campaign.

Ayesha made 47 runs, smashing eight boundaries before being dismissed by Fatima with only eight runs required. Omaima, meanwhile, played an unbeaten knock of 44, hitting seven fours as Invincibles reached the target comfortably in 15.5 overs.

Neha was later named the player-of-the-match for her sublime bowling display.

In Wednesday’s other match at Oval Academy Ground, Strikers crushed Stars in a dominant chase as they secured their second win by hunting down a 98-run target in 12.4 overs.

Captain Gull Feroza and Noreen Yaqoob laid the foundation with a 56-run opening stand before Eyman Fatima quickfire unbeaten innings of 28 off 14 deliveries accelerated the finish after player-of-the-match Noreen fell to Tuba Hassan.

Gull played a cautious knock of 37 runs off 42 balls, hitting three boundaries while Noreen on the other hand played a tad bit faster as she made 28 off 21 balls, smashing four boundaries and a maximum.

Earlier, Stars collapsed to 55-5 with opener Sana Urooj making 19 while middle-order batter Tuba top scored with 30 to lift them to 97-7, but Strikers bowlers Anam Amin (2-14), Ayesha Bilal (2-16) and Diana Baig (1-22) stifled the innings.

After Thursday’s rest day, action resumes on Friday with Challengers taking on Stars and Strikers facing Invincibles.

Scores in brief:

CONQUERORS 107-8 in 20 overs (Fatima Sana 41, Hafsa Khalid 24; Neha Sharmin 3-14); Invincibles 108-2 in 15.5 overs (Ayesha Zafar 47, Omaima Sohail 44 not out; Humna Bilal 1-14)

STARS 97-7 in 20 overs (Tuba Hassan 30; Anam Amin 2-14, Ayesha Bila 2-16); STRIKERS 98-1 in 12.4 overs (Gull Feroza 37 not out, Eyman Fatima 28 not out; Tuba Hassan 1-18 )

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2025