Lahore
It was in the streets of Karachi where Fatima Sana’s passion for cricket developed and her inspiration to take up fast bowling started by watching James Anderson, whom she used to emulate while playing with her neighbourhood friends.
19-year-old right-arm pacer was at the forefront of the national women’s side’s back-to-back victories against West Indies Women in Antigua as she took nine wickets in the last two ODIs of the series, as Javeria Khan’s side romped to wins by four wickets and 22 runs (DLS method) in the fourth and fifth matches.
Fatima, on Sunday, turned heads in the last match by recording her maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs, which was also the first five-fer for a Pakistan woman bowler in the last eight years since Sadia Yousuf recorded one against Ireland Women in July 2013 in Dublin.
It was the fourth instance of a right-arm pacer recording a five-fer in ODIs since 6 May 2019, when Fatima made her debut.
Fatima took five wickets for just 39 runs from seven overs as Pakistan defended 194 in 34 overs in a rain-curtailed match.
She accounted for the scalps of well-settled batters in Britney Cooper and Deandra Dottin, who scored the most and second most runs in the innings for the hosts.
“It was the happiest day of my life when I wore the Pakistan shirt in 2019, but I knew I needed to cement my place in the team by making contributions that lead my country to victories.”—APP
