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Karachi, 17 May 2025: Sidra Amin led from the front with an unbeaten 70 as her side chased down Invincibles’ 140-6 with eight balls to spare and seven wickets in hand in the eighth round of the National Women’s T20 tournament 2024-25 at the National Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
After being put in to bat first, Invincibles got off to a dream start with a 115-run opening stand between skipper Muneeba Ali (52,37b, 7x4s) and Ayesha Zafar (61, 50b, 9x4s, 1x6).
Waheeda Akhtar struck for Stars in the fourteenth over as she dismissed Muneeba caught behind. Invincibles could not capitalise on the start provided by their opening batters as they slumped from 115-1 in 14 overs to 140-6 in their allotted 20 overs with no other batter reaching double figures.
For Stars, Aleesa Mukhtiar dismissed three batters for 23 runs while Waheeda picked up a brace.
In turn, Stars chased down the 141-run target in 18.4 overs courtesy an unbeaten 84-run fourth wicket partnership between the skipper and Sidra Nawaz (24 not out, 30b, 1x4).
Opening batter Sana Urooj scored a 16-ball 21 while the Sidra’s 50-ball 70 not out comprised of 10 boundaries as she overtook Fatima Sana to top the run-scoring charts (320 runs). This was Stars’ third victory in the tournament, which took them to second place on the table with two more games to go.
For Invincibles, Saima Malik picked up all three wickets to fall giving away 20 runs in her four overs.
In the other match of theround, Fatima Sana-led Conquerors subdued Challengers by 31 runs as they restricted Challengers to 108-6 in 20 overs. Fatima top-scored with a 28-ball 42 hitting five fours to lead her team to a respectable 139-6 in 20 overs, while Humna Bilal returned economical figures of 4-0-18-2, in which she landed double blows early on to leave Challengers 2-1.
Bowlers kept the Challengers’ batters in check as spin quartet of Mahnoor Aftab, Nashra Sundhu, Syeda Aroob Shah and Rida Aslam bagged one wicket apiece, giving away 76 runs in 13 overs collectively. Skipper Fatima proved miserly as she gave away 14 runs in her three overs.
Aliya Riaz, who walked in to bat in the first over, top-scored for Challengers with a 43-ball 35 (4x4s), while Natalia Parvaiz scored a 24-ball 28 (3x4s) as their 52-run stand went in vain.
Earlier, Conquerors were lifted to 139-6 with each of the top six batters entering double figures. Opening batter Saira Jabeen chipped in with a 20-ball 27 clubbing five fours. Apart from Fatima’s heroics with the bat, Najiha Alvi struck one six in her unbeaten eight-ball 16.
For Challengers, skipper Rameen Shamim returned figures of 4-0-34-3, climbing to the top of leading-wicket takers ladder with 11 scalps in six matches. Conquerors (1), Stars (2), Challengers (3) and Strikers (4) have six points each to their name but positioned accordingly on the points table owing to the differing net run-rates.
Scores in brief:
Match 15: Stars beat Invincibles by seven wickets at the National Bank Stadium
Invincibles 140-6, 20 overs (Ayesha Zafar 61, Muneeba Ali 52; Aleesa Mukhtiar 3-23, Waheeda Akhtar 2-18)
Stars 141-3, 18.4 overs (Sidra Amin 70 not out, Sidra Nawaz 24 not out, Sana Urooj 21; Saima Malik 3-20)
Player of the match – Sidra Amin (Stars)
Match 16: Conquerors beat Challengers by 31 runs at the Oval Academy Ground
Conquerors 139-5, 20 overs (Fatima Sana 42, Saira Jabeen 27; Rameen Shamim 3-34))
Challengers 108-6, 20 overs (Aliya Riaz 35, Natalia Parvaiz 28; Humna Bilal 2-18)
Player of the match – Fatima Sana (Conquerors)
9th round fixtures, Monday, 19 May: (both matches to begin at 3pm PKT)
Match 17: Conquerors v Strikers at National Bank Stadium
Match 18: Challengers v Invincibles at Oval Academy Ground
