South Africa Women vs Pakistan Women, 3rd ODI: The greens seal the deal with a tie

The 3rd ODI between South Africa Women and Pakistan Women was an absolute nail-biter. With South Africa producing a solid target of 266, it seemed good enough to put the hosts under pressure and sail through to a win. However, Pakistan women proved their might as a unit, putting up a display of sheer determination, hunger, and passion for the game while chasing the total.

Batting first, South Africa got off to a flying start with Lizelle Lee and L Wolvaardt getting their side to a thumping start with 74 runs for no wicket in 14.5 overs. Aimen Anwar, a good prospect for Pakistan and the highly experienced Sana Mir started things off for Pakistan with the ball, but things did not seem too difficult for South Africa to negotiate.

Just when South African women started to look dangerous, Aliya Riaz, a valuable all-rounder for Pakistan, provided a much-needed breakthrough to dismiss Lizelle Lee with a brilliant catch taken by Sidra Nawaz. Nida Dar and Aliya Riaz continued to slow down the run rate of South Africa's innings, with Aliya striking again with the wicket of A. Steyn; who got out in a similar fashion to Lizelle.

Later on, the Pakistani spinners Nida Dar, Omaima, Bismah, and Sana looked somewhat successful in keeping the run rate bit sluggish for South Africa till the 30th over with the visitors scoring 124 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. However, this did not stop Wolvaardt to keep striking with good attacking shots and building a vital partnership with the captain: S. Luus, until her wicket fell down at 150 runs in 34.2 overs. This caused the highly experienced Mignon du Preez to step on to the crease and help the captain to accelerate the run rate. Unexpectedly, just when their partnership had started to build, Mignon was run out by an amazing piece of fielding by the mighty Sana Mir, who achieved the feat of being the best ODI spinner in the world in this series.

With the captain still on the crease, South Africa Women kept on rotating the strike in the last ten overs and did not stop attacking the bowlers with fours and sixes. With an aggressive 28 off 14 deliveries, C. Tryon gave her side some acceleration but was later dismissed by Nida Dar falling down to a good stumping by Sidra in the 46th over. This did not stop S. Luus from doing the damage and putting the fielders under pressure with her bat as she ended up with 80 runs off 84 balls, finally being dismissed by Sana Mir in the 48th over.

While chasing 266, Pakistan women had a shaky start with Sidra Ameen being caught by Steyn in the third over. The responsibility then shifted to Javeria Khan who had to take up the challenge of settling the innings to chase 266. However, in just the fourth over, Pakistan had another blow with Nahida Khan being caught by Wolvaardt on Shabnim's bowling. Followed by a shocking dismissal of the captain, Bismah Maroof which increased the responsibility on Javeria. After stepping in, Nida Dar started giving the team some relief by knocking down a couple of fours to increase the run rate; just when the partnership had started to build between Javeria and Nida, Nida got bowled by Tryon. This caused Aliya to step in and try to save the day for her team.

Delivering to the hopes and expectations, Aliya took up the challenge and got the ship sailing with Javeria. This allowed Javeria to keep things ticking during 23rd to 36th overs as she ended up with a patient knock of 74 runs with a strike rate of 71.84. With 101 runs required in 13 overs, Aliya exhibited sheer mental patience and composure as she kept fighting for her team with her brilliant batting including explosive fours and sixes. However, Pakistan did not fail in giving away surprising wickets as Umaima departed after just four overs scoring a modest knock of 16 off 13 balls.

Things started to look smooth again with Sana Mir stepping into another challenging situation and required to keep the scoreboard ticking as Pakistan required 69 runs off 48 balls. Another good partnership between Aliya and Sana made things look in control for Pakistan when the balance was shattered again in the 47th over with both the fluent looking batters being dismissed for 71 and 16 runs respectively. Things were close from then on. With Aiman, Sidra, and Nashra stepping in, Pakistan surely looked thirsty for the win, and, unexpectedly, the match ended up being tied with a dramatic six by the youngster, Nashra Sandhu off the second last ball of the Pakistan innings followed by a close single off the last ball.

The final match of the 3 match series was surely an indication that the following T-20 series will be a spectacle for any cricket fans as things are bound to get even closer as the format gets shorter.

Pakistan (W): 265/7 (50 overs) England (W): 265/7 (50 overs) RESULT: Match Tied