England made a rousing comeback after being stunned in the tournament opener against India with a majestic 107-run via Duckworth/Lewis method win over Pakistan at Leicester on Tuesday.
Natalie Sciver’s blistering 137 from 92 balls and skipper Heather Knight’s 106 from 109 took England to a humongous 377 for seven – the second highest World Cup total – after being put into bat first. Sciver and Knight got together with their team struggling at 42 for two, and put up a thrill-a-minute 213-run stand for the third wicket.
Danielle Wyatt (42* from 27) and Fran Wilson’s (33 from 19) quick cameos helped England pile up close to 100 runs in the last 10 overs. All the Pakistan bowlers were expensive although Asmavia Iqbal’s impressed with twin strikes at the top, before being put to the sword by Sciver.
It was retribution time for pacer Katherine Brunt (2/21) too after being picked apart by India opener Smirti Mandhana in the previous game. Brunt picked up two early wickets but Pakistan repaired the damage through opener Ayesha Zafar’s solid fifty. However, Pakistan were well behind the asking rate before rain washed off the rest of the contest.
Brief score:
- England 377/7 in 50 Overs (Natalie Sciver 137, Heather Knight 107, Danielle Wyatt 42; Asmavia Iqbal 3/62, Kainat Imtiaz 2/68) beat Pakistan 109/3 in 29.2 Overs (Ayesha Zafar 56 not out; Katherine Brunt 2/21) by 107 runs (By D/L method)