IRE W vs PAK W first T20I Preview | Pakistan Women on reset mode after disappointing T20 World Cup
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Pakistan Women will meet host Ireland Women in the first T20I at Castle Avenue in Dublin on August 6. This will be Pakistan’s first T20I after their disappointing campaign in the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year, where they finished second from last in the group stage.
However, the Women in Green have been on an unbeaten run since then, winning all their matches in the ICC ODI World Cup 2025 Qualifier in Lahore in April. They topped the table and remained unbeaten throughout the campaign to punch their ticket for the World Cup later this year.
The Fatima Sana-led side will now look to mend their form in the shorter format with the bigger picture of the T20 World Cup 2026 in mind. The visitors have a top-class spin bowling line-up, which includes the left-arm spin duo of Sadia Iqbal and Nashra Sandhu, who are first and sixth, respectively, in the ICC Women’s T20I bowling rankings.
But it is in the batting department that the side has been found wanting, getting bowled out for sub-100 scores twice and managing a high score of just 116 in the T20 World Cup campaign. The side has given a maiden call-up to 20-year-old Eyman Fatima, who had an impressive National T20 tournament with a tally of 287 runs at a strike rate of more than 155.
Meanwhile, the Ireland Women will walk into the contest after keeping a clean slate against Zimbabwe during the white-ball tour at home last month. They won the three-match T20I series comfortably before winning two ODIs as well to go into this series with momentum behind them.
Pakistan have dominated this fixture with 15 wins in 19 T20Is, with Ireland managing just four victories. However, the hosts have been on level terms in the last four matches, winning two of them.
The Castle Avenue surface is expected to be a flat and high-scoring one, with the last two Women’s T20Is at this venue seeing scores of 170 or more being made by one of the teams. The ground is considered good for chasing down totals, with four of the five T20Is being won by teams batting second. Women’s T20I returns to the venue after a gap of almost a year following a two-match T20I series between Ireland and England in September 2024.
It will be a cool, cloudy evening at the Clontarf Cricket Club with the temperature expected to be around 15 degrees. There will be 64% cloud cover, with chances of rain at 12%.
Ireland are expected to start with the same eleven that featured in the second T20I against Zimbabwe, while Pakistan might be tempted to give rookie Eyman Fatima a debut cap.
Amy Hunter (wk), Gaby Lewis (c), Orla Prendergast, Leah Paul, Rebecca Stokell, Laura Delany, Louise Little, Jane Maguire, Arlene Kelly, Cara Murray, Lara McBride.
Eyman Fatima, Muneeba Ali (wk), Aliya Riaz, Sidra Amin, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Fatima Sana (c), Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal, Diana Baig, Natalia Pervaiz, Tuba Hassan.
The IRE W vs PAK W first T20I match will be digitally streamed on the FanCode app and website in India from 08:30 PM IST on Wednesday.
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