Challengers to take on Dynamites in Women’s Pakistan Cup final on Sunday

KARACHI: The stage is set for an exciting finale as Sidra Amin-led Dynamites take on Omaima Sohail-led Challengers in the 45-over final of the Pakistan Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament 2022-23.

The toss will take place at 0830 PKT, while the first ball will be bowled at 0900 PKT as the two sides will come face to face in the final at the State Bank Stadium.

Both sides met in the final of the one-day tournament before on 20 February 2018, when Dynamites overcame Challengers by 190 runs at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

The victors of the final this year will pocket PKR1million along with the silverware. The losing team will end up taking PKR500,000.

The player of the match will earn PKR20,000 and the player of the tournament will get PKR50,000.

Before Sunday’s final, both sides had met each other twice in the one-day phase of the tournament.

In the first encounter staged on 27 May, Dynamites defeated Challengers by eight wickets, while the final-round match of the second phase on 2 June between the two sides ended with Challengers winning a thriller by seven runs.

Sidra Amin, the captain of the Dynamites, has been leading from the front with her stellar performances in the competition.

She currently tops the batting charts with 231 runs from four matches, including two half-centuries. Her highest score of 95 against Blasters demonstrated her ability to anchor the innings and provide stability at the top of the order.

Sidra’s form will be crucial for Dynamites as the team will be without their star player Bismah Maroof, who featured in three matches and will not be available for the Pakistan Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament final due to prior family commitments.

Meanwhile, Challengers will be relying on their skipper, Omaima Sohail, and opening batters Javeria Khan and Javeria Rauf, who have been in fine touch throughout the tournament.

Javeria Rauf is second on the batting charts with 150 runs from four matches, while Javeria Khan, currently placed third on the batting charts with 133 runs, played a match-winning knock of 83 runs against Dynamites in their previous encounter.

Omaima has scored 108 runs from four matches with her 75 helping her side to a five-wicket win over Blasters on Wednesday. In that match, Javeria Rauf was declared player of the match for her 82-run innings.

Challengers will be hoping the senior players replicate their performances and guides the team to victory once again in the final.

Dynamites hold the upper hand in the bowling stocks. Spinners Ghulam Fatima and Nashra Sundhu have been exceptional, bagging nine and seven wickets respectively in the Pakistan Cup Women’s Cricket Tournament.

Their ability to pick up crucial wickets and create pressure will be vital in restricting the Challengers’ batting lineup.

However, the Challengers possess their own bowling threat in the form of Noreen Yaqub, who sits at the third spot on the bowling charts with six wickets. Off-spinner Noreen could pose a challenge for Dynamites’ batters.

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