Women's World Cup: Pakistan in search of first win, take on New Zealand in Colombo

Colombo, October 18 (IANS). The 19th match of the Women’s World Cup 2025 between New Zealand and Pakistan will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium, in which the Pakistan team will go with the aim of opening the winning account. Pakistan’s team has played four matches so far, in which it had to face defeat in 3 matches, while one match remained a draw. This team is currently present at the last i.e. eighth position in the standings. On the other hand, the New Zealand team is in fifth place after winning one out of four matches. This team has lost 2 matches so far, while one match was canceled due to rain. New Zealand will have high hopes from Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Brooke Halliday in batting, while Jess Kerr and Amelia Kerr will be the team’s biggest hopes in bowling. Suzie Bates is 75 runs away from completing 6,000 runs in ODIs. She is also 68 runs away from becoming the second highest run-scorer in ODIs by surpassing Charlotte Edwards. Bates scored 874 runs against Pakistan at an average of 72.83. At the same time, the Pakistan team has high expectations from Sidra Amin and Muniba Ali in batting. In bowling, Fatima Sana and Nashra Sandhu can be seen troubling the opposition players. Rain is expected in Colombo on Saturday. As the game progresses, the pitch can be useful for the spinners. The maximum temperature here is expected to be 30 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature is expected to be 25 degrees Celsius. This match between Pakistan and New Zealand will start at 15:00 Indian time. The toss will take place half an hour earlier. The live telecast of this match will be on Star Sports Network while live streaming will be available on JioHotstar app. Pakistan team: Muniba Ali, Umaima Sohail, Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervez, Fatima Sana (captain), Sidra Nawaz (wk), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal, Syeda Arub Shah, Sadaf Shamas, Shawal Fatima, Zulfikar. New Zealand squad: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gage (wk), Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Brienne Illing, Eden Carson, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Hannah Rowe, Lee Tahuhu. –IANS RSG