Daily Times

LAHORE: Bismah Maroof-led Pakistan women’s side will take on Australia in the first of the three ICC Women’s Championship ODIs at the Allan Border Field, Brisbane on Monday (today). The second ODI scheduled on Wednesday (January 18) is also at the same venue, while the third ODI will be played at the North Sydney Oval, Sydney on Saturday (January 21). The ODI series will be followed by three T20Is to be played from January 24 to 29 in Sydney, Hobart and Canberra. Before coming to Australia, the women’s team held their practice camps in Lahore and Karachi where they also featured in various intra-squad matches. Since arriving in Brisbane last week, the Pakistan team have conducted extensive practice sessions which include a 50-over match against the Governor General’s XI at the Allan Border Field on Friday. Even though the tourists lost the game, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana and Nida Dar showed their skills in the bowling department, while Bismah Maroof scored a half-century, showcasing her batting form ahead of the ODI series.

Australia hold the top position in the ICC Women’s ODI rankings, while Pakistan are positioned on the ninth spot. In the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25, Pakistan after winning five of their six outings are second in the table behind India, whereas Australia will play their first Championship match on Monday against Pakistan. Pakistan will be eyeing to carry forward the momentum after they clinched a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka in Karachi in June last year and later achieved a 3-0 sweep over Ireland in Lahore in November. While talking to PCB Digital on the eve of the series, captain Bismah Maroof said: “We had good practice sessions here at the venue. The pitches here have different bounce as compared to Pakistan and it took us time to adjust to the bounce. We are fortunate enough to get a practice game at the same venue where our opening two matches of the series will be hosted. This will help be familiar with the conditions. The fast bowlers bowled well in the practice match, and they will have a key role to play in these conditions. The spinners on the other hand will need to adjust their line and length as required here. The batters need to get set on the wicket, and once they are set, it will be easy for them to score runs. We have prepared ourselves well and will try to execute our plans to give better results in the series. We have done really well in the ICC Women’s Championship matches so far, the upcoming series against Australia is also very important. We will try to stick to our plans in the series.” The toss will take place tomorrow at 0435 (Pakistan Standard Time), while the first ball will be bowled at 0505 (Pakistan Standard Time).

Pakistan ODI squad for Australia series: Bismah Maroof (c), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Kainat Imtiaz, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nashra Sandhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz (wk) and Tuba Hassan.

Traveling Reserves: Aimen Anwar and Javeria Khan.

Player support staff: Ayesha Ashhar (team manager), Saleem Jaffer (bowling coach and interim head coach), Taufiq Umar (batting coach), Mauhtashim Rashid (fielding coach), Yasir Malik (strength and conditioning coach), Muhammad Zubair Ahmad (analyst), Syed Nazir Ahmed (media and digital content manager) and Rifat Gill (physiotherapist).

Australia series itinerary:

January 16 – First ODI at Allan Border Field, Brisbane

January 18 – Second ODI at Allan Border Field, Brisbane

January 21 – Third ODI at North Sydney Oval, Sydney

January 24 – First T20I at North Sydney Oval, Sydney

January 26 – Second T20I at Blundstone Arena, Hobart

January 29 – Third T20I at Manuka Oval, Canberra.