Australia Women (AUSW) faced Pakistan Women (PAKW) in the first T20I of the three-match series at North Sydney Oval on Tuesday (January 24). Before this, Pakistan faced a whitewash in the ODI leg (0-3) of their ongoing Australia tour.
The Women in Green won the toss and chose to bat first, but the decision backfired for them as they lost too many wickets in the initial overs and managed to score only 118/10 in their allotted 20 overs. Omaima Sohail (30) and Ayesha Naseem (24) were the highest contributors to the team’s total. Meanwhile, Meghan Schutt picked a five-wicket haul for the Aussies to dismantle the Pakistan line-up.
Apart from Schutt, Ellyse Perry also scalped a couple of wickets in the two overs she bowled.
Perry struck on the second ball of her opening spell in the fifth over and gave Australia their first breakthrough in form of Muneeba Ali. The veteran Australian all-rounder delivered a nailing yorker to Ali to which the latter had no response and she got cleaned bowled.
The sensational delivery by Perry left the batter confused and became a major talking point on social media as well. The fans also didn’t shy away from appreciating the Aussie pacer’s terrific yorker.
Here’s the video:
Brilliant by Perry 🙏pic.twitter.com/G1SzymD9Wi
— WomenCricket.com (@WomenCricketHQ) January 24, 2023
In reply to Pakistan’s below-par total, Perry’s 57 off 40 balls helped Australia chase down the set target in 13.4 overs for the loss of 2 wickets. Ashleigh Gardner (30 off 19 balls) also contributed in her team’s eight-wicket victory. On the other hand, Sadia Iqbal and Nida Dar were the only Pakistan bowlers to pick up a wicket.
The next match between the two teams will be played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Friday (January 27), and if the Aussies pull it as well, then they will take away the T20I series from the visitors.
