For about 22 overs in Paarl it felt as though Pakistan were about to rip up a long, uncomfortable statistic. They had never beaten Australia in women’s ODIs – 16 losses and counting – yet here they were, fielders buzzing, spinners gripping the surface, the champions wobbling at 76-for-7.
Then it drifted away. Slowly at first, almost imperceptibly, and finally all at once.
Beth Mooney provided the turning point. “When they’re [Pakistan are] flying, they’re up and about. If you get a little partnership going, they can get a little bit flat, and you can open the game up that way,” she explained afterwards. Two sentences that neatly captured what followed. Mooney’s unbeaten 109 from 114 balls – chanceless, mostly risk-free – dragged Australia to 199. Pakistan never recovered the energy that had carried them through the first half of the innings.
Captain Fatima Sana was blunt at the presentation. “We were on top after 20 overs in the first innings. After that, Beth Mooney played well and our girls’ energy came down. We need that energy until the last ball.”
She is right. Against sides who bat deep, intensity cannot dip. Pakistan’s bowlers had earned those seven wickets with sharp turn, smart field placings and a couple of diving grabs that will look good on the highlights reel. Yet as Mooney settled, gaps re-appeared, singles flowed – 44 of them – and Australia’s lower order simply hung in.
Chasing 200 should have been doable, even on a sluggish pitch, but familiar issues surfaced. Sidra Amin offered resistance with 35 (52) – mostly drives through cover – before miscuing a sweep. Around her, wickets tumbled. None of the other top-six batters reached double figures, and when the required rate crept past five an over the innings folded to 104 all out. Australia by 95 runs; 17-0 in the head-to-head ledger.
Afterwards, senior keeper-batter Sidra Nawaz tried to make sense of it. “It is quite disappointing for us also because we were batting well previously. We did well in the Qualifiers, we did well in the series against South Africa in the lead up to the World Cup,” she noted, listing scores of 287 and 255 from those matches. Yet she conceded the obvious: “Here, we aren’t able to create the momentum in our batting, we are trying to figure out how to solve that, and do well in our upcoming matches.”
The numbers back her up – and expose the broader problem. Since the 2022 World Cup Pakistan have passed 250 only five times in 35 completed innings. Even allowing for low chases, that is too rare for a side aiming to move beyond mid-table respectability. A top order that contains stroke-makers like Muneeba Ali and Bismah Maroof should not be shuffling its way to 159, 96 and now 104.
Part of the answer may lie in intent. Pakistan’s openers tend to start cautiously, a sensible approach on tricky surfaces, but the middle overs then drift. Australia, in contrast, rebuilt through Mooney yet still managed to score at almost four an over. Rotating strike – simple one-and-twos – keeps a chase from stagnating; Pakistan allowed as many as 42 dot balls in their first 15 overs.
There are positives to salvage. Nida Dar’s off-spin produced drift and bounce that troubled even Mooney early on. Youngster Umm-e-Hani showed she can field at point with the best. The bowling, by and large, created chances; the side simply needs runs to give them breathing room. Fatima’s late spell, touching 120 kph, suggests she is growing into the captaincy role despite this setback.
None of that will ease the immediate frustration. Pakistan were good enough for half a match – maybe slightly more – to have Australia genuinely rattled. As Mooney admitted: “I sort of knew we had a long time to bat, so we didn’t have to do anything too rash.” That calm contrasted with Pakistan’s hurried chase, and until the latter finds similar composure at the crease the big scalp will remain just out of reach.
Next up is Sri Lanka, who bring their own brand of street-smart spin. The challenge is clear: stitch together the complete performance Fatima keeps talking about. The bowling and fielding blueprint is there. The batting, still, is the missing piece.
