Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka registered comfortable wins in matches seven and eight of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi under the Tolerance Oval and Zayed Cricket Stadium lights on Saturday.

Zimbabwe bounced back from a disappointing loss to Vanuatu on Thursday by registering a comfortable, eight-wicket win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) while Sri Lanka lived up to their “tournament favourites” reputation with a 10-wicket drubbing of Scotland.

UAE vs Zimbabwe

The UAE won the toss and opted to bat first, but just as in their tournament opener against Ireland, they failed to fire with the bat. The tournament hosts lost three wickets inside the first six overs, but the innings was steered back on track courtesy of a 52-run, fourth-wicket partnership between Kavisha Edodage (23) and top-scorer, Heena Hotchandani (32 off 33 balls, three fours).

Both batters fell in quick succession and after their departure, the UAE’s lower-order struggled to get going in the death overs. Rinitha Ranjith’s much needed 19 off 11 balls (two fours) helped her side pass the 100-run mark.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers maintained their discipline with the ball for most of the UAE innings. Josephine Nkomo (player of the match) was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 11 runs in four overs. She took wickets both with the new ball and in the death overs with her impressive seam bowling. Audrey Mazvishaya helped maintain their momentum with her own two wickets for 25.

Zimbabwe were rarely troubled in their chase. Opener, Sharne Mayers, fell for 13 after a 22-run opening partnership. Wicketkeeper-batter Modester Mupachikwa (22) added 43 runs for the second-wicket with Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano.

After Mupachikwa’s dismissal in the 10^th over, Mugeri-Tiripano saw her side home in the company of skipper Mary-Anne Musonda who scored an unbeaten 26 off 23 balls (three fours). Mugeri-Tiripano scored a brisk, unbeaten 36 from 26 with the help of four fours. Zimbabwe completed the chase with 27 balls to spare, Suraksha Kotte was the only wicket-taker for UAE.

Scotland vs Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first and the decision reaped rich rewards as the Scotland’s batters failed to create momentum from the start of their innings. After losing opener Darcey Carter for a duck in the opening over, Scotland kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Player of the match in the win against Thailand, Inoshi Priyadharshani, produced another quality spell. The off-spinner took three wickets in her four overs, conceding a mere 11 runs. Kavisha Dilhari, later named the player of the match, also made life tough for Scotland’s batters with her off-spinners, she took four wickets in 3.2 overs.

Lorna Jack top-scored with 24 runs, while captain, Kathryn Bryce, contributed an enterprising 22 off 19 balls (five fours) but failed to make the most of her promising start.

In reply, captain Chamari Athapaththu, smashed an unbeaten 59 off 35 balls (10 fours, one six) as Sri Lanka cruised past the target in 10.1 overs. Athapaththu played in her typically aggressive manner as the Scotland bowlers searched but found no answers. The bowlers were also let down by a below-par fielding effort, including dropped chances as Athapaththu played her shots.

Athapaththu’s opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne dropped anchor on the other end, her captain leading from the front with some swashbuckling shots. Sri Lanka are now poised for a semi-final spot from Group A with matches against Uganda and USA to follow next week.

Scores in brief:

Match 7:

Zimbabwe beat UAE by eight wickets

UAE 105 for 9 in  20 overs (Heena Hotchandani 32, Kavisha Edodage 23; Josephine Nkomo 4-11, Audrey Mazvishaya 2-25)

Zimbabwe 106 for 2in 15.3 overs (Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano 36 not out, Mary-Anne Musonda 26 not out; Suraksha Kotte 1-13)

Player of the match – Josephine Nkomo

Match 8:

Sri Lanka beat Scotland by 10 wickets

Scotland 94 all out in 18.2 overs (Lorna Jack 24, Kathryn Bryce 22; Kavisha Dilhari 4-13, Inoshi Priyadharshani 3-11)

Sri Lanka 95 for no loss in 10.1 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 59 not out, Vishmi Gunaratne 24 not out)

Player of the match – Kavisha Dilhari

(ICC)

It got a little hairy at the death, but Pakistan just about managed to salvage some pride in this series, scraping to a 9-run win to level the T20I series 2-2. Babar Azam’s 43-ball 69 and late fireworks from Fakhar Zaman saw Pakistan post 178, the third successive time that has been the first innings total this series.

But New Zealand were looking like they would make short work of the chase despite the early loss of Tom Blundell, but Pakistan’s bowlers hit back hard in the second half of that chase, with 4-30 from Shaheen Shah Afridi and crucial middle-overs strikes from Usama Mir derailing a chase that had looked on course until the eight-over mark. Josh Clarkson’s unbeaten 26-ball 38 kept New Zealand’s interest alive right till the death, but he would run out of partners with a pair of frenetic final-over run-outs as Pakistan edged through in a tight contest.

Babar Azam stamps his authority

It may not solve any of Pakistan’s problems or address the underlying causes of criticism Babar receives, but there’s little doubt the impact the Pakistan captain’s knock had on Pakistan today was decisively positive. Saim Ayub has struggled for runs this series, and his early dismissal shunted Babar into a position of even greater prominence in this Powerplay, and he marked the moment by taking the attack to Zak Foulkes and Ben Sears, racing to 30 off 15.

Crucially, there wasn’t a pronounced post-Powerplay slump as Babar held one end up while keeping the runs ticking over, and looking in great touch in the process. A huge six off Ish Sodhi as Fakhar Zaman took his time to bed in ensured the visitors couldn’t build too much pressure on Pakistan, and by the time Sears cleaned him up with a stunning yorker, the infrastructure that allowed Pakistan to lift off had been constructed.

Fakhar tees off after good fortune

Should Fakhar have been dismissed before the most explosive phase of his innings got underway? Tim Seifert certainly thought so. Fakhar was beaten by a slower delivery as he tried to heave it towards midwicket, and was casual as he regained his shape, with his bat hanging loosely behind him as it tipped the bails off.

New Zealand appealed and the umpire referred it upstairs, but the third umpire deemed the ball to be dead by then. New Zealand’s frustration was compounded as Fakhar plundered 14 off the next three balls to set Pakistan up for a big finish. Shadab joined in as well as the hosts took 39 off the last three overs, as well as some of the momentum going in at the halfway stage.

Tim Seifert, Powerplay fireworks

Pakistan have spent much of this series engaged in a familiar debate about how best to utilise the Powerplay. Two days ago, New Zealand opener Tim Robinson gave them a glimpse into how to go about it. Today, his replacement, another Tim – Seifert – illustrated it just about perfectly once more.

Pakistan had kept things tight the first three overs, but by the time Mohammad Amir came in to bowl, Seifert launched. He picked the leg cutter early and clobbered it over long-on for a colossal six, before following it up with a pair of boundaries that got the visitors going. Abbas Afridi, too, saw his first ball launched out of the ground, and another loose delivery clipped around fine leg. Amir would return for more punishment as Seifert smashed him for three boundaries off the back foot to race along to a 30-ball half-century. It wasn’t until he was dismissed that the game began to turn; by then, New Zealand had raced along to 81 in eight overs.

Spin strikes back

Usama had a torrid fourth game and with a surfeit of legspin options for Pakistan, time to impress was fast running out. He’d laid a solid platform, conceding just three in the first over as runs rained all around him, but this was his moment to shine. Seifert lost his shape as he tried to slog it over the onside and found his furniture disturbed in the process. It would end up being a wicket maiden that changed the course of the game as Mir cleaned up Chapman in his following over. Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim got in on the act with wickets in the following two overs as Pakistan burrowed deep into the New Zealand lower order.

Shaheen would have his say to effectively kill the game off with two wickets in two balls as New Zealand lost 6-40 in 39 balls. They would never recover from that barrage of body blows, and Pakistan would salvage a series draw despite Clarkson’s best late efforts.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 178 for 5 in 20 overs  (Babar Azam  69, Fakhar Zaman 43; Zakary Foulkes 1-35, William O’Rouke 1-25, Ben Sears 1-46, Ish Sodhi 1-30, James Neesham 1-13) beat New Zealand 169 in 19.2 overs  (Tim Seifert 52, Michael Bracewell 23, Josh Clarkson 38*;  Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-30, Usama Mir 2-21, Shadab Khan 1-15, Imad Wasim 1-05) by 9 runs

(Cricinfo)