Twitter Reactions: Muneeba Ali’s century, Nashra Sandhu’s four-wicket haul powers Pakistan to massive victory

After losing a close game against India in their campaign opener, Pakistan bounced back stronger than ever to defeat Ireland in their second game of the season. The two sides locked horns in the 10^th match of the Women’s T20 World Cup at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town and Pakistan’s sheer dominance led them to a massive 70-run victory, marking their first in the tournament.

Ireland won the toss and put Pakistan to bat first. Though Pakistan’s start was a bit sluggish as opener Javeria Khan had to walk back to the pavilion after a runout, Muneeba kept the scorecard ticking. Skipper Bismah Maroof, who had notched up the crucial runs against India in their previous contest, failed to go big and was dismissed cheaply on the sixth ball that she faced.

It was then the 101-run third-wicket partnership between Muneeba and Nida Dar that helped Pakistan post a winning total. While Nida Dar too was quick in scoring runs, Muneeba took charge of piling up the runs and went on to score her maiden century, becoming the first-ever Pakistani woman cricketer to achieve the feat in T20Is. Thanks to her 68-ball knock of 102, Pakistan finished at 165/5 in their quota of 20 overs.

Ireland had a bad time in the first innings and the batters looked to cover up for the same, but the Pakistani bowlers were at their best, and did not leave any scope for Ireland to score runs. Openers Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis were cleaned up in the powerplay itself, courtesy of Fatima Sana and Nida Dar. Orla Prendergast and Eimear Richardson put up decent scores, but that was all for Ireland.

Except for Lewis, Orla, and Richardson, no other batter could even reach the double-digit mark. Nashra Sandhu registered her career-best bowling figures of 4/18 in her four-overs spell which helped Pakistan take down the Irish women. Sadia Iqbal and Nida Dar chipped in with two wickets each, while Fatima Sana and Tuba Hassan finished with one wicket each to their name as Pakistan bundled out Ireland for 95 runs in 16.3 overs to win the game by 70 runs. Thanks to the win, Pakistan are now placed third in the points table.

Here's how Twitter reacted:

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store