Tariq, Muneeba lead Dynamites to comfortable eight-wicket win

An unbeaten half-century from Muneeba Ali and a four-wicket haul from Maham Tariq headlined PCB Dynamites eight wicket win over PCB Blasters in the National Triangular One-Day Women’s Cricket Championship 2019 at Lahore Gymkhana on Monday (September 23). Their efforts trumped those of Aliya Riaz and Sidra Ameen whose strong performances with the bat set up the game for Blasters.

Nahida Khan and Muneeba got off to a splendid start in pursuit of Blasters’ 176-run target. The pair steadily added 69 runs for the first wicket in 17.2 overs, before the former was dismissed by Ramin Shamim for 38.

Javeria Khan joined hands with Muneeba and the duo continued to accumulate the runs at a healthy rate. While the boundaries were few and far between, they continued to turn over the strike regularly. Through their 79-run stand, the pair effectively batted Blasters out of the game. They took Dynamites to the brink of victory before Javeria fell to Shamim for a patient 44.

Nida Dar, captain of Dynamites, came to the crease with 28 runs still needed and scored a quick-fire unbeaten 25-ball 20 to polish off the chase. Alongside Muneeba, who was unbeaten on 57 off 95 deliveries, she took her team home in 43.3 overs— securing another comfortable victory.

Earlier in the day, Ameen and Riaz stood tall amongst Blasters’ batting ruins. Having lost two big wickets— Ayesha Zafar and Umaima Sohail— in the power play, Ameen and Kainat Hafeez attempted to bat their team to safety. While the former took the aggressive route, finding the boundary and ticking over the strike consistently, Hafeez’s approached erred on the side of caution. The pair shared a 45-run stand for the third wicket— one that gave Blasters a bit of stability.

However, another mini collapse— triggered by the wicket of Ameen for 47— saw Blasters lose three wickets for 20 runs in 10 overs.

It was during this juncture that Riaz came to the wicket. She found an able ally in Shamim, who simply chose to hold one end up— stoically providing her partner with much needed confidence. Meanwhile, Riaz continued her splendid form with the bat, collecting seven boundaries on her way to a 72-ball half-century. Her knock helped hold Blasters’ innings together and took them to a competitive total of 175 all out in 49.3 overs.

Tariq was Dynamites’ best bowler. She provided her team with the initial breakthrough of Zafar, before coming back later in the innings to clean up the tail. She finished with impressive figures of 4 for 35 in just 6.3 overs.

 

Brief scores: PCB Blasters 175 in 49.3 overs (Aliya Riaz 50, Sidra Ameen 47; Maham Tariq 4-35) lost to PCB Dynamites 176/2 in 43.3 overs (Muneeba Ali 57*, Javeria Khan 44; Ramin Shamim 2-34) by eight wickets. PoM: Muneeba Ali.