Pakistan captain had earlier left the team after her father’s death
Fatima Sana’s return lends more depth to both the batting and bowling departments • ICC/Getty Images
Pakistan captain Fatima Sana will return to the UAE on Sunday to play in her team’s must-win T20 World Cup match against New Zealand on Monday. Sana left the team on Thursday after news of the passing of her father and was not available for Friday’s match against Australia, which Pakistan lost by nine wickets.
Pakistan remain in contention for the knockouts but need to beat New Zealand by a substantial margin on Monday, and hope other results go their way. If India beat Australia out Sunday, Pakistan will not be able to reach the semis.
Sana, who was named captain of the side in August, was missed on Friday, where Pakistan were also without senior seamer Diana Baig, who has yet to recover from a leg injury. Their batting, in particular, misfired as only Aliya Riaz scored more than 20, and they were bowled out for the lowest total so far in the tournament, 82. Though Sana has been batting as low as No.7 in the two matches she has played so far, she was up at No.5 in the lead-up, and holds Pakistan’s highest individual score at this event: 30. She has also opened the bowling and is Pakistan’s second-highest wicket-taker with four strikes from two matches and has their lowest economy rate of 4.82.
Opening batter Muneeba Ali led in Sana’s absence and faced questions over the batting collapse, which she responded to gamely. “We accept as a batting group that this is the third match and we have not adapted to the conditions really well. We will have to step up the batting for the next match,” she said at the post-match press conference. “As a batting group, we will have to sit and think how we can increase our scoring areas and what approach we should take in the next match.”
Earlier in the tournament, Sana was questioned over why she is not batting higher and maintained it was a “team decision.” When Muneeba was asked whether the coach had been making decisions unilaterally, she rejected that assumption and explained that the team remained a work in progress. “The management and coach discuss and we all mutually decide. We need help too. We’re young,” Muneeba said. “If we talk about Fatima, she is also young in her internationals. I have also led for the first time. We need help and management is for this purpose. But collectively, decisions are planned before the match and things are decided mutually.”
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket
