Pakistan’s inability to keep a check on Healy proves costly

Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering century set up a 34-run win for her team.

Australia’s aim from the very beginning was clear: to set a high total and then make sure that the slowness of the pitch comes into play, allowing their spinners some grip. It was a matter of lessons learned and unlearned between two sides who had recently faced each other in a bilateral series in Malaysia, where too Australia had prevailed with their erudite attitude.

The manner in which the Australian opening pair of Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney went out with a clear mind and rampaged through the strong Pakistani spin attack indicated that they were aware of the importance of using the hard, new ball in the Power Play overs. It did not help Pakistan’s cause that both their experienced spinners, Anam Amin and Sana Mir, had little clue on how to check the run flow in the first two overs of the match. It gave Australia the momentum and Healy’s three back-to-back boundaries off Nida Dar in the third over opened the floodgates. The Power Play continued to be eventful as Dar dropped a catch off Mir to give Mooney a life when she was on two.

Healy, with nine fours in 23 balls, dominated the Power Play overs as Australia raced off to 58 for no loss. She hardly had any issues in navigating the scoreboard either through boundaries on through singles and doubles. In a desperate attempt for a breakthrough Pakistan used four spinners within the first six overs for no success. That Pakistan were yet to find a solution against Healy who had three fifty-plus scores in Malaysia was concerning.

Pakistan’s over-reliance on their spinners was evident in the team composition as they fielded just one pacer in Aliya Riaz, who was brought into the attack only in the eighth over. Was it a deliberate ploy or an observation made from the first match of the day where both India and New Zealand packed their attack predominantly with spinners is not known, but Riaz made a point on thinking beyond the template by having Healy caught at long-on with a pitched up delivery off the last ball of her first over. Healy, however, had done her job by then with 48 off 29 balls that would make her the player of the match.

Having batted at either No.4 or No.5 through the year in T20Is, Lanning promoted herself to No.3 and it proved to be another masterstroke for Australia even though Pakistan pulled back the scoring rate by a bit through Mir, Riaz and Amin. Pakistan bowling has always thrived in the middle overs, but Mooney had got her eye in after playing second fiddle to Healy to open up. She utilised the loose deliveries on offer from Pakistan and kept the scoreboard ticking even as Lanning set her base at the other end.

Mooney was looking set for a big score, but fell for 48 in the 15^th over, giving Pakistan some kind of an opening to work on. Riaz and Mir bowled to their strengths and right areas towards the end, and it played a big part in Australia being restricted to 165 for 5 and not touching the 180-run mark as run scoring became difficult for the new batters.

The onus was on Pakistan’s opening pair of Nahida Khan and Ayesha Zafar to get them off to a good start, but it was never going to be an easy task against Megan Schutt, the No.1-ranked T20 bowler, and Australia’s unmatched fielding. There was swing on offer immediately under lights, and that made scoring difficult. The game plan was missing for Pakistan and once Zafar got cramped for room and was bowled trying to pull a good length ball in Schutt’s first over, Australia got an entry.

Umaima Sohail is a 21-year-old right-hand batter and pace bowler who I was impressed with in Malaysia. Her calmness and composure in the bilateral series against Australia had left a mark on me. Once again she proved her worth in the middle by playing shots. Some exquisite cover drives, inside-out shots and ability to work the ball through the on-side indicated that she was comfortable against Schutt and Ellyse Perry.

As she was settling down a wrong call from Nahida let to Sohail’s run out for a 11-ball 20, which turned out to be a huge blow for Pakistan in the context of the game. Soon after that Nahida fell as Pakistan became 31 for 3 before the end of Power Play. India too had lost three wickets in the Power Play in the first game, but they had depth which Pakistan lacked, with very little support available for Bismah Maroof.

Loosing back-to-back wickets has been one of Pakistan’s biggest issue, and it needs to be addressed immediately as has to be the need to find hardcore hitters in the middle overs. Also, they leaked too many runs through their spinners in the Power Play overs. Was there a scope to play an extra seamer? Quite a few questions to address before their almost must-win game against India at the same venue on Sunday.