KARACHI: Ayesha Zafar’s unbeaten 42-run knock after a dominant outing from the spinners led Pakistan women to beat West Indies by eight wickets in the fourth T20I of the five-match series here at National Bank Stadium on Thursday.
Set to chase 85, Pakistan women comfortably knocked the winning runs on the third delivery of the 17th over when Ayesha Zafar smashed Jannillea Glasgow for a boundary.
The home side had a brief flying start to the pursuit with Sidra Ameen and Ayesha amassing 24 runs in the first three overs.
West Indies pulled things back in the fourth over when Shamilia Connell cleaned up Sidra, who scored 15 off 12 deliveries, laced up with three boundaries.
Muneeba Ali (8) then joined Ayesha for a brief 15-run partnership until falling victim to Afy Fletcher in the eighth over with 41 runs on the board.
Her dismissal, however, did not trouble Pakistan women much as Gull Feroza partnered strongly with Ayesha and denied West Indies a comeback.
The pair batted sensibly and knitted a match-winning 46-run partnership.
Ayesha top-scored for Pakistan with a 48-ball 42 which featured three boundaries whereas Feroza made 21 off 24 balls.
For West Indies, Connell and Fletcher could pick up a wicket.
Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews’ decision to bat first did not bore fruits as the touring side could only manage 84 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
The visitors got off to the worst possible start to their innings as Sadia Iqbal got Qiana Joseph (0) stumped on the first delivery.
Sadia then struck again in the next over and removed in-form Hayley Matthews (1) to put Pakistan women on top as West Indies slipped to 14/2 in 2.3 overs.
Following the back-to-back dismissals, Shemaine Campbelle put together a cautious partnership with Chedean Nation and anchored the innings briefly.
The duo added 22 runs for the third wicket before both perished in successive overs, bringing the total down to 39/4 in 10 overs.
Campbelle remained the top-scorer for West Indies with a 20-ball 26 with the help of two boundaries and a six while Nation played a scratchy knock of eight in 24 deliveries.
Zaida James then took the reigns of the West Indies batting expedition and put together brief partnerships with Aaliyah Alleyne and Jannillea Glasgow before perishing in the 16th over.
She remained a notable run-getter for West Indies with an anchoring 19 off 24 deliveries, hitting two boundaries.
Glasgow, on the other hand, carried her bat till the penultimate over until falling victim to Sadia, who returned brilliant figures of 3/18.
Besides her, skipper Nida Dar also picked three wickets while Nashra Sandhu and Rameen Shamim chipped in with a wicket apiece.
READ: Independent medical committee submits report on Ihsanullah’s injury