Pakistan lost their opening T20 match of the Commonwealth Games to Barbados who were making their first international appearance.
Though classified as their international debut, Barbados was made up of established international stars with seven players capped previously by West Indies and six of them part of the squad that lifted the T20 World Cup trophy in 2016, it should be no surprise that they beat a full-member nation at their first attempt.
And their experience showed as they batted undeterred against Pakistan’s best bowling attack, finishing with 144/4 on the board from their 20 overs.
Hayley Matthews, the captain, and Kycia Knight scored the majority of their runs with Matthews scoring 51 and Knight adding a further 62 from 56 balls.
Fatima Sana picked up two wickets for her side but conceded 41 runs in the process while Diana Baig managed to snag one as well during her two overs.
Pakistan never looked to be in the chase from the off with Iram Javed caught off the first ball before Bismah Maroof, Omima Sohail, and Muneeba Ali all added a few runs at a less-than-a-ball strike rate to take the game out of reach.
Nida Dar managed to make things interesting, drawing from her experience, smacking a sparkling 50 off 31 balls but there were never enough deliveries left for her as Pakistan succumbed to a 15-run loss against Barbados in their opening Commonwealth Games match.
Pakistan will next play India tomorrow who also lost their opening match to Australia by three wickets after Ashleigh Gardner and Grace Harris rescued the Aussies and nailed the 154-run target with an over to spare.
