Having lost both their practice matches before the Women’s T20 World Cup, it has become very difficult for Pakistan to adapt to the conditions in England. They started with a heavy nine-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka, chasing the target of 169 runs in just 18.3 overs. However, Tuesday’s defeat may have hurt even more as Scotland defeated them by 41 runs via the DLS method at the County Ground in Derby.

Katherine Bryce, who led Scotland during their maiden Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in 2024, provided a tough challenge to Pakistan’s bowlers. The right-handed batsman completed his half-century off just 28 balls and then accelerated to remain unbeaten on 94 off 43 balls, studded with 11 fours and three sixes.

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On the strength of Bryce’s talent, Scotland scored 191 runs for five wickets when invited to bat first. Darcy Carter (45) and Katherine Fraser (19) provided a solid platform and led the Scots to a strong total before Bryce took charge. For Pakistan, Tasmiya Rubab, Sadia Iqbal and Ayesha Zafar took one wicket each, but no bowler was successful in stopping Bryce.

Pakistan’s batting collapsed

Pakistan had a very poor start while chasing the target and its score was 28 runs for three wickets in 4.1 overs. Left-arm fast bowler Rachel Slater did the damage at the top, while Gul Firozha, Saira Jabeen and Ayesha Zafar all failed to reach double figures. Muniba Ali, who has two T20I centuries to her name, put up some resistance, scoring 22 runs from 20 balls before Bryce took the wicket.

Iram Javed was looking promising before losing to Chloe Abel. When captain Fatima Sana tried to make a comeback by scoring 12 not out from seven balls, rain intervened and ultimately ended the contest.

Pakistan recently defeated Zimbabwe at home, but they failed to win a single match in the triangular series in Ireland. In one of those games, Ireland successfully chased down 177, exposing the weaknesses of Pakistan’s bowling attack.

Now after losing both the warm-up matches against Sri Lanka and Scotland, Pakistan will face a tough challenge in the group stage. They begin their campaign against India on June 14 before taking on six-time champions Australia and 2024 runners-up South Africa.

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