Skipper Bismah Maroof anchored the chase admirably as Pakistan shocked former champion West Indies by eight wickets in its opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.
Diana Baig’s fierce spell of fast bowling exposed the Windies top-order as it posted 124 for seven, courtesy Stafanie Taylor (43) and Shemaine Campbelle (43).
In reply, Pakistan openers Javeria Khan and Muneeba Ali put on 58 before Maroof’s unbeaten 38 steered her side to a comfortable win with 10 balls to spare.
Earlier, England captain Heather Knight smashed the first century of the Twenty20 World Cup as her team got its campaign back on track with a crushing 98-run win over minnows Thailand.
The 2009 champion had looked vulnerable as it crashed to a six-wicket defeat against South Africa in the opening Group B game on Sunday, following a shock 10-wicket hammering by Sri Lanka in the final warm-up last week.
Knight hit an unbeaten 108 in a tournament-best 169-run partnership with Natalie Sciver (59 not out) to secure a vital win. England's 176 for two was also the highest score by any team so far.
England plays Pakistan on Friday, while South Africa faces Thailand.
“We were gutted after the performance the other day so it was very important that we bounced back with a decent performance here,” said Knight.
“It was a challenging game for us, but we tried our best,” said Thailand captain Sornnarin Tippoch.
The scores:
England 176/2 in 20 overs (Natalie Sciver 59 n.o., Heather Knight 108 n.o.) bt Thailand 78/7 in 20 overs (Nattakan Chantam 32, Anya Shrubsole 3/21).
West Indies 124/7 in 20 overs (Shemaine Campbelle 43, Stafanie Taylor 43) lost to Pakistan 127/2 in 18.2 overs (Javeria Khan 35, Bismah Maroof 38 n.o.).
