The Pakistan women’s cricket team made history on Monday by defeating South Africa in the third T20I, achieving a remarkable whitewash over South Africa on their home turf. Nida Dar, Sadia Iqbal, and Nashra Sandhu played outstanding roles in securing this thrilling win in Karachi.
South African captain Laura Wolvaardt chose to field first, marking the first time Pakistan batted first in the series after successfully chasing in the previous matches. Pakistan got off to a solid start, scoring 41 runs in the powerplay, with contributions from Shawaal Zulfiqar and Sidra Amin.
Even after Shawaal’s dismissal by Nonkululeko Mlaba, Pakistan’s scoreboard continued to perform well. A 49-run partnership between Sidra and Bismah Maroof, followed by another 49-run partnership between Bismah and Nida Dar, helped Pakistan reach a total of 150.
Although South Africa’s Laura played a brilliant innings of 72 runs, her efforts were not matched by her teammates. The second-highest score for South Africa was 20* by Nadine de Klerk.
The left-arm spin duo of Nashra and Sadia, who had been successful throughout the series, proved too challenging for South African batters. With two wickets each, Nashra and Sadia ensured that South Africa couldn’t chase down the target of 151.
With the T20I series comfortably in favor of Pakistan, all attention now turns to the ODI series, with the first match scheduled for September 8, 2023, at 3:30 pm (PST).
