Rain mars Pakistan's hopes as points split amidst England's batting crumble

After reducing Australia to 76/7 a week ago, Pakistan had England on the mat at 78/7 before rain robbed them off what could have been their first victory in the Women's World Cup 2025. Fatima Sana led from the front with 4 for 27 in a rain-curtailed affair in Colombo, keeping England to 133/9 from their 31 overs. A second spell of rain, 6.4 overs into Pakistan's chase, forced them to split points.

Pace and spin inflicted damage in equal measure as England's batting crumbled against inswingers. Fatima Sana was the wrecker-in-chief upfront, but it was Diana Baig who set the ball rolling by cleaning up Tammy Beaumont on just her third delivery of the match. Sana then knocked back the stumps of Amy Jones with another nip backer, reducing England to 22 for 2.

In her fourth over, the Pakistan skipper broke the back of England's middle-order by removing both Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt in the space of four deliveries. The English captain dragged an inside edge onto her stumps while Knight was trapped in front by a nip-backer which she reviewed, but to in vain.

The introduction of spin brought more trouble for England as Sadia Iqbal breached the defences of Emma Lamb in just her second over. Sophia Dunkley was the next to depart, falling to a shot she depends on against spin - the sweep. The on-field decision was not out though but Pakistan challenged, only for the three reds on ball-tracking to prove them right.

Nashra Sandhu, in her seven-over unchanged spell, kept a tight leash at the other end to unfortunately not bag a wicket then. But Rameen Shamim got on the board as she broke the stubborn 70-ball partnership by trapping Alice Capsey in front. The allrounder tried to break the shackles with a sweep but missed a straight ball, and then burnt England's last remaining review in a desperate attempt with rain threat looming.

What started with drizzle turned into a heavy, steady rainfall halting play for close to four hours and knocking off 19 overs per side eventually when the game resumed. England had six more overs left to salvage some pride and put on a defendindable score. To that end, Charlie Dean and Em Arlott batted a bit more proactively after the break but the two were dismissed in quick succession to leave England with 133/9 at the end of their 31 overs.

The DLS-adjusted target for Pakistan was down to 113 and the openers began with a solid 34-run stand before rain arrived again. Omaima Sohail, back in the XI, led the charge with an unbeaten 19 off 18 while Muneeba Ali adopted a more cautious approach. However , a second spell of rain late in the day meant they never had the chance to see how the chase wild have planned out eventually.

Brief Scores: England 133/9 in 31 overs (Charlie Dean 33; Fatima Sana 4-31, Sadia Iqbal 2-16) vs Pakistan 34 for no loss in 6.4 overs (Omaima Sohail 19*) No result due to rain.