ISLAMABAD: Pakistan women’s cricket team lost against England, in what turned out to be a walk in the park for the English side after rain struck, in their ICC Women’s World Cup match in Leicester on Tuesday. Pakistan bowlers received a thrashing by the strong English batting which racked up 377 – the fifth highest total ever in international cricket – in their stipulated 50 overs. They lost seven wickets along the way. Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver scored centuries for England while Asmavia Iqbal took three wickets. Chasing 378, Pakistan were 107-3 after 29.2 overs when rain hit. Nahida Khan, Javeria Khan and Asmavia Iqbal returned to the pavilion scoring a total of 19 among them. Opener Ayesha Zafar, 56, and the experienced Nain Abidi, 23, were at the crease. Play was abandoned as rain would not allow for any more overs and England won the game by 107 runs on Duckworth-Lewis method. Sciver was declared the player of the match. This was Pakistan’s second consecutive loss in the tournament. Earlier, Pakistan lost their World Cup opener with one over and three wickets to spare against South Africa in Leicester on Sunday. South Africa laid the foundations in the field by holding Pakistan to 206-8 in their full 50 overs. The total, and Nahida’s top-score of 79, were both Pakistan records at a Women’s World Cup. But targets of around 200 now rarely present problems for leading women’s sides, although this one did leave South Africa with a national record World Cup chase. They were well on their way to victory, however, when World Cup debutant Laura Wolvaardt (52) and Lizelle Lee (60) shared an opening stand of 113. The loss of six wickets for 49 runs, including three run-outs, gave Pakistan hope of an improbable success. But Shabnim Ismail struck three fours in the penultimate over as South Africa won with six balls to spare. Pakistan captain Sana Mir said: “I think it was a great effort by the girls, the way they fought it out. We lacked in all three departments though. We were 20 runs short but the bowlers came chipping in with wonderful overs but there were a couple of missed catches.” Published in Daily Times, June 29th, 2017.