Women's T20 World Cup 2024/25, NZ-W vs PAK-W, Match 19, Group A Match Report, October 14, 2024

New Zealand Batting 110 for 6 (Bates 28, Halliday 22, Sandhu 3-18). Pakistan 56 (Sana 21, Kerr 3-14, Carson 2-7) for 54 runs

India's hopes briefly rose. New Zealand might be feeling a sense of déjà vu. Pakistan itself threatened the unthinkable. Only for everything to collapse in the end.

New Zealand defeated Pakistan in their final group game to qualify for the semi-finals of the Women's T20 World Cup for the first time since 2016. With the first shot they could only finish with 110 to 6. India needed Pakistan to beat New Zealand to reach the semi-finals. Pakistan itself had to reduce its score to at least 11.3 overs to qualify for the last four against India and New Zealand. To achieve this, they were bowled out for 56, their lowest total in T20 World Cups.

It was only when Omaima Sohail came on for the final over of the powerplay that there was a taste of what was to follow.

Pakistan drops catches, New Zealand drops points

Nida Dar's first over, the fifth of the game, gave a hint of her fate for the day. Bates attempted a reverse round to Dar on the second ball but deflected it towards the wicketkeeper. But Muneeba Ali could not hold out. This was the first of five missed chances by Pakistan due to Dar's bowling alone. In the sixth over, Bates pulled Sohail straight to mid-wicket but Sandhu couldn't hold on. One ball earlier, Plimmer had survived a run-out chance.

Plimmer and Bates were unable to take advantage of these opportunities. With New Zealand's score at 41, the former deflected a top edge from Sandhu towards cover, where Sana fumbled before holding on. In Sandhu's next over, Bates hit long-on in the throat. Sohail had taken advantage of a difficult catch-and-bowl chance when Amelia Kerr was at zero but managed to catch her cheaply on the deep midwicket ropes.

Borders were difficult to overcome. Sophie Devine tried to counteract the spin with her feet, but to no avail. When she was 13 years old, she also received a life. Pakistan dropped five catches in the last three overs. Despite this, New Zealand could only hit seven fours – the last two coming from Brooke Halliday's bat – and were limited to a total that seemed quite achievable at half-time. Sandhu finished the game with 3 for 18 while Dar, Iqbal and Sohail also took a wicket each.

This was the beginning of a massive collapse of Pakistan. They lost five wickets in the powerplay and were 28 for 5. A substantially revised batting order, with Dar batting at number 7, did not produce the desired result. The 24-run partnership between Dar and Sana for the sixth wicket was Pakistan's best. But when their most experienced all-rounder fell in the tenth over, Pakistan failed as quickly as New Zealand started. They lost their last five wickets for just four runs in 11.4 overs, exactly the over mark when they needed to complete the chase to qualify.