Pakistan national women’s cricket team landed in Tauranga, New Zealand to play their first match in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Cricket World Cup, scheduled to start tomorrow (March 4).
The squad flew to Tauranga from Christchurch in a chartered plane. The Bismah Maroof-led side will play two more matches in Tauranga after starting their World Cup campaign with the first match against arch-rivals India at the Bay Oval on March 6. The rest of the two matches will be played against Australia and South Africa on March 8 and 11, re-spectively, at the same venue.
The event will mark Maroof’s return to interna-tional cricket after two years as she took a break from the game for the birth of her first child in December 2020.
She will be accompanied by a support person, as part of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) new parental policy, to help her look after her newborn while keeping her focus on cricket.
Meanwhile, Australian all-rounder Ashley Gardner contracted COVID-19 ahead of the com-mencement of ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The cricketer tested positive for coronavirus in a routine PCR test and had to stay in Christchurch, New Zealand to complete isolation.
The rest of the Aussie squad will leave for Ham-ilton to play their first match in the tournament against England.—AFP
