Pakistan sealed their place at the ICC Women’s World Cup with a crushing 94-run defeat over the Netherlands, and skipper Urooj Mumtaz was absolutely delighted to lead her Pakistani side to qualification for Australia next year.
"It’s an absolutely awesome feeling. I can’t tell you how amazing it feels. That was the task we came here to do and I think we pulled off a great win. We are very excited to be going to the World Cup.
"Every single girl did their job on and off the field. In fielding, batting and bowling, everybody did their task – it was an absolutely brilliant performance."
After winning the toss and batting, openers Bismal Maroof and Taskeen Qadeer gave Pakistan an excellent start as they added 79 for the opening wicket.
But the Netherlands always stuck to their task and once Caroline De Fouw had broken the opening stand, they took wickets at regular intervals as Pakistan’s batters struggled to establish themselves at the crease.
And a late rush of wickets, which saw Pakistan collapse from 140-5 to 162 all out, including a Lotte Egging hat-trick to finish the innings, which earned her the Player of the Match Award, left Urooj Mumtaz’s side disappointed with their final total.
In reply, once the Netherlands had lost both openers, Violet Wattenberg and Helmien Rambaldo for ducks, they were also going to struggle and despite the brave efforts of Annemarie Tanke (41) they always looked like falling well short of their target.
Sajida Shah once again did the damage with the ball, taking 3-14, although Sana Mir also contributed with two wickets.
Despite another heavy defeat, the captain of the Netherlands was proud of her team’s performance.
"We’re a bit disappointed. We would have loved to have won this game so we could have got a ticket to the World Cup but Pakistan played really well" said Netherlands skipper Helmien Rambaldo.
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