England women extend T20 winning streak to 16 games

By Meg Anderson

LOUGHBOROUGH, England (TheSportsNext) September 5, 2012: England women cricket team continued enjoying authority in Twenty20 International matches as they defeated touring Pakistani women by seven wickets to win the first T20 International played at Haslegrave Ground in Loughborough on Tuesday.

 

Tuesday’s seven wickets victory over Pakistan was England’s 16^th straight triumph in the Twenty20 format of the game.

The victory was mainly attributed to recalled seamer Anya Shrubsole who demolished Pakistani women by taking four wickets for only 12 runs while her fellow spinner Holly Colvin gave away only seven runs from her four overs as Pakistan limped to a total of 87 for 7 from their 20 overs.

Only three Pakistani batsmen could managed score in double figures as Nain Abidi hit 21 runs from 31 balls with the help of a couple of boundaries while the other two players scoring in double figures were Asmavia Iqbal (12 from 13 – 1 six) and Marina Iqbal (19 not out from 12 – 3 fours).

Chasing an easy target of 88 runs, the home side lost opening batsman Laura Marsh for a duck but Sarah Taylor (31 from 25 – 4 fours) and Arran Bindle (31 not out from 42 – 2 fours) made sure that the England women cricket team add another victory to their spree with no trouble.

In the end, England completed the target from 15.5 overs for the loss of only three wickets.

Talking to BBC after the victory, Player of the Match Anya Shrubsole said, “It was a solid start and I was really happy with how I performed, having missed the series against India it was good to get back out there."

After the two-match Twenty20 International series against Pakistan, English women cricketers are having a hectic schedule coming up. England will take on West Indies in a five-match T20 series before the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 begins from September 26, 2012 with both England and Pakistan have been placed in Group B.

Following is the list of matches that the English women cricketers are going to play.

4 Sept: England v Pakistan (Loughborough) - England won by seven wickets

5 Sept: England v Pakistan (Loughborough)

8 Sept: England v W Indies (Chester-le-Street)

10 Sept: England v W Indies (Old Trafford)

13 Sept: England v W Indies (Northampton)

15 Sept: England v W Indies (Hove)

16 Sept: England v W Indies (Arundel)