Strikers beat Conquerors in last-ball thriller as the fourth round of the National Women’s One-Day Tournament concluded in Faisalabad on Thursday.
In the other match, Stars secured two points by defeating Invincibles in a dominant style.
The next round will take place on Saturday, November 22, at the HPC Ground and Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.
Strikers registered their first win in three matches as they completed the chase of the 221-run target on the last ball of their innings with three wickets in hand against the Conquerors at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.
In pursuit of the target, Strikers lost three quick wickets after the opening batters Shawaal Zulfiqar (23) and Saiqa Riaz (9) had put on 26 runs. Player of the match Aliya Riaz, batting at no.5, then joined forces with Noreen Yaqoob to steer the chase with a 147-run fourth-wicket stand.
Aliya, who fell three short of her century (97), hit 12 fours and three sixes in her 102-ball outing, while Noreen’s 46 came off 87 balls, hitting four fours and one six.
After the duo got out on the score of 194, it was no.7 Humna Bilal (17 not out) who made sure to help their team get over the line with Ghulam Fatima hitting the winning run on the last ball of the 50th over off Fatima Sana. Umm-e-Hani and Fatima dismissed two batters each.
Earlier, opting to bat first, the Conquerors were dismissed for 220 in 44.4 overs after being 158 for 3 at one point. Skipper Fatima (58) and Gull Feroza (48) had stitched an 85-run fourth-wicket partnership after their team was 73-3.
For Strikers, Humna Bilal returned figures of 8-0-23-3, while Noreen and Ghulam picked up two wickets each.
At the HPC Ground, Stars outfoxed Invincibles by 70 runs, successfully defending their 214-run total as Syeda Aroob Shah chipped in with two wickets and 40 runs with the bat. This was the Stars’ second consecutive win after starting the tournament with a thumping 111-run defeat to the Conquerors.
After being put into bat, Stars’ Sidra Amin (49) and Gull Rukh (34) came together to form a 54-run second-wicket stand after skipper Omaima Sohail departed for two.
Invincibles’ five-wicket haul star Momina Riasat (10-2-27-5) then got in the act, removing Gull. Aroob walked in to bat at 120-3 and contributed 40 off 53 balls, hitting three fours, while she was aided by no.8 Anosha Nasir (31) in helping their team cross the 200-run mark.
Momina removed Aroob, Diana and then cleaned up the no.9 and 10 to bag her five-fer.
In turn, Stars struck at regular intervals as Invincibles slipped to 78-6 with only no.4 Natalia Parvaiz (63) weathering the storm. Stars eventually folded for 144 in 37.5 overs.
Apart from Aroob’s two strikers, Diana Baig returned figures of 6.5-0-21-3, while Anam Amin dismissed two batters.
