Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Pakistan national women’s cricket team arrived in Zimbabwe on Thursday for six limited overs matches against their Zimbabwean counterparts.
Pakistan arrived in Zimbabwe after completing a tour of South Africa in which they played the hosts in three ODIs and three T20Is. South Africa were victorious 3-0 in the ODIs and 2-1 in the T20Is.
Javeria Khan, the Pakistan captain for the tour to South Africa, reflecting on their just ended tour felt that while things did not go their way, they were competitive with some of the players putting in really good performances.
“We were expected to be challenged on this tour as playing in South Africa has always been a tough proposition for the visiting sides. Though the results did not go in our favour, we played competitive cricket and had some fine individual performances, which augurs well for us in the long-term, especially with the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers coming up later this year,’’ Khan said.
Zimbabwe and Pakistan will meet in three 50 over contests on 9, 12 and 14 February before the two teams clash in two Twenty20 Internationals on 17, 19 and 20 February , with all matches to be played at Harare Sports Club.
Both teams are using the matches to prepare for the International Cricket Council Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier to be staged in Sri Lanka from 3-19 July.
The Mary-Anne Musonda captained team has not faced any international opponents since May 2019 when they took part in the ICC Women’s Qualifier Africa held in Harare, a tournament they won but were not able to proceed to the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier after the country had its membership suspended by the world cricket governing body.
In preparation for the matches against Pakistan, the Zimbabwean women have been in camp for over a week, with the final squad of 17 players named on Thursday. The players will continue with net and fielding sessions until the start of the matches against Pakistan.
Mdawini_29
Online Reporter