DUBAI: Left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu produced the finest bowling figures ever recorded by a Pakistan bowler in a women’s Twenty20 International, taking six wickets for seven runs as Pakistan crushed Hong Kong by 72 runs in Dubai to seal a place in the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 Asia Cup.
Pakistan, who won the toss and elected to bat for the third match in succession, posted 143 for eight and then dismantled Hong Kong for 71 in 19 overs. The result confirmed second place in Group A and set up a semi-final against defending champions Sri Lanka.
The foundation of the total was a composed 47 from 35 balls by Shawaal Zulfiqar on a surface that gripped and played slow throughout. The 21-year-old opener, who forced her way back into the T20I side in Sri Lanka last month, survived the early loss of Muneeba Ali (6 off 7) and Gull Feroza (3 off 4) and struck six boundaries, including a series of crisp cover drives.
She added 47 in 34 balls with Ayesha Zafar, whose 26 off 19 was the innings’ other significant contribution, before Zafar fell in the 10th over. Captain Fatima Sana chipped in with a run-a-ball 24. Zulfiqar was eventually undone by Joyleen Kaur in the 12th over, driving a flighted delivery straight back to the bowler. Pakistan managed only 51 runs in the 8.4 overs that followed her dismissal, and only four batters reached double figures.
Kaur was the standout for Hong Kong, finishing with career-best figures of four for 19 — the first four-wicket haul of her T20I career. She took Zafar and Zulfiqar with tossed-up deliveries outside the hitting arc, then removed Sadaf Shamas and Eyman Fatima in her final over.
Hong Kong needed to chase 144 inside 12.3 overs to leapfrog Pakistan into the last four, an ask that was always improbable against a bowling attack rated among the tournament’s strongest.
Fatima Sana breached Mariko Hill’s defences at the end of the first over and Sadia Iqbal trapped Natasha Miles in front with an arm ball at the start of the second. Kary Chan resisted for a top score of 30 from 47 deliveries, but the innings never recovered.
Introduced after the powerplay, Sandhu was close to unplayable. Her looping length ball that turned away accounted for Yasmin Daswani; she then bowled Marina Lamplough and had Maryam Bibi caught within the space of four deliveries. In her final over she took three wickets in five balls, the first two off consecutive deliveries, to finish with six for seven. No Pakistan bowler, male or female, had previously taken six wickets in a women’s T20I for the country.
Before the toss, opener Muneeba Ali was presented with a commemorative cap to mark her 100th T20I appearance, a landmark that places her among the most-capped players in Pakistan’s women’s cricket history.
Pakistan opened the tournament with a win over Thailand before losing to India on 5 September. Under the Asian Cricket Council’s schedule, the Group A runners-up meet the Group B winners in the second semi-final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday, 11 September, with the final on Sunday, 13 September. Sri Lanka, who lifted the trophy in 2024 by beating India in the final, stand between Pakistan and a first Asia Cup final appearance in the T20 era.
The tournament is being held in the UAE for the first time, with all 15 matches at a single venue. The tight turnaround is significant for Pakistan: eleven members of this squad, Sandhu and Zulfiqar among them, are also named in the Asian Games squad.
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