AICHI-NAGOYA, Japan : Pakistan recovered from 67-5 to beat Bangladesh by 31 runs in the women’s cricket bronze-medal playoff at the Asian Games, with Fatima Sana’s 45 providing the momentum for their victory.
Pakistan, who won the toss and elected to bat, were in trouble before Sana counter-attacked with a 30-ball innings. She added 67 runs from 43 balls with Aliya Riaz, who scored 25 from 22 deliveries, to lift Pakistan to 145.
Gull Feroza had earlier made 31 from 23 balls during a 46-run opening partnership with Shawaal Zulfiqar. Zulfiqar struggled to 17 from 27 balls before becoming the third wicket to fall, while Shorna Akter took two wickets to leave Pakistan five down.
Sana’s partnership with Riaz changed the course of the innings, with the pair hitting five sixes between them as Bangladesh lost control of the contest.
Bangladesh’s chase never gathered momentum. Umm-e-Hani took three wickets for 10 runs from her four overs, striking in the third and fifth overs before claiming another wicket in the 16th.
Bangladesh were reduced to 77-5 with less than five overs remaining, leaving Sharmin Akhter with too much to do despite her unbeaten 46 from 45 balls.
Pakistan completed a 31-run victory to secure the bronze medal, with Sana’s aggressive innings and Umm-e-Hani’s three-wicket spell providing the key contributions in their successful defence of 145.
