Pakistan Women Team Drops 8 Catches Against New Zealand Women: Support for the Pakistan women’s cricket team extended beyond their own nation when they faced New Zealand in the last group stage match of the T20 World Cup 2024.

The Pakistani squad was fortunate to have cross-border support on one of the rarest instances, since the Indian team’s prospects of qualifying for the semi-finals also depended on their neighbors.

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But after that, Pakistan turned in one of the worst performances in the competition’s history, losing by 54 runs as a result of up to eight missed catches.

In 20 overs, Pakistan limited New Zealand to 110/6, but not before giving away an incredible eight catching opportunities and even two run-out opportunities. As the Kiwis continued to ride their luck, Pakistan’s Fatima Sana herself lost as many as four catches, the most of them routine.

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Pakistan was bowled out for 56 because they were unable to control their opponents’ bowling despite needing to reach a target of 111 runs. This was due to their reckless style of play and poor shot selection. In the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup, this total is the second worst.

In an erratic display of cricket, especially in the field, even Pakistan’s former women’s team captain Sana Mir was stunned seeing the butterfingers display by her team.

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“I’ve never seen this in 15 years of playing,” said Mir in the final over of the innings.

Pakistan’s Dropped Catches Against New Zealand: Overs 4.2, 5.2, 7.3, 15.5, 17.2, 19.1, 19.3 and 19.5

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana admitted in the post-match presentation ceremony that her team needs to improve fielding.

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“We were good in the bowling but we need to improve our fielding and batting. We were not up to the mark in batting and the seniors need to step up in that kind of matches. As a bowling unit we were up to the mark, but we need to improve in batting, otherwise we can’t survive in women’s cricket,” she said.

Courtesy of New Zealand’s win, both India and Pakistan were knocked out of the semi-finals race.

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Gautam Gambhir Backs Indian Batsmen ‘High Risk, High Reward or Failure’: Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir stated that the team think-tank will continue to back their batters in playing high-risk cricket in the longer format.

India came out swinging in their opening innings in their most recent Test match, which took place against Bangladesh at the rain-soaked Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. They broke records for the quickest 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 runs in the lengthier format, and they declared at 285/9.

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After that, the team captained by Rohit Sharma chased down 95 in 17.2 to finish a commanding victory and secure the series 2-0. “We want people to play the natural game, be aggressive, and get outside.” Why is it that people need to hang on? Why not, if they can play the natural game and score 400 or 500 runs in a day?

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“I’ve always maintained T20 cricket has to be played that way, and we will play that way. High risk, high reward, high risk, high failure, and we will continue to play that way. There will be days when we’ll get bundled out for 100, but we’ll take it up, continue to back our players to go out there and play high risk cricket.”

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“That’s how we want to play, entertain the people of this country, and even in Test cricket, we want to keep making the game go forward, and try to get the results in whatever situation we are in,” said Gambhir in a pre-series press conference.

However, Gambhir quickly dispelled the notion of playing the game with blinkers, saying “adaptability” will also remain important for his side.

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“I had said in Chennai that we want to be a team that can make 400 runs in a day and bat for two days to draw. That’s called growth.

“That’s called adaptability and that’s called Test cricket. If you play the same way, then it’s not growth,” he explained.

Gambhir was confident in his wards’ ability to tame any situation without sacrificing the team’s motto of pushing the limits.

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