Women | Pakistan

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said her team’s breakthrough Women’s World Cup triumph on Sunday was “just the beginning” as they beat South Africa by 52 runs to win the tournament for the first time. Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma starred with both bat and ball to propel India to the title in front of a jubilant home crowd at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium. Hosts India posted 298-7 and then bowled South Africa out for 246 in 45.3 overs with spinner Sharma taking five wickets after earlier contributing a vital run-a-ball 58 in the middle order. Opener Verma top-scored with 87 as India posted a challenging total after they were put in to bat in a final delayed two hours by rain. South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt hit a valiant 101 but her departure off Sharma raised the noise at the 45,000-capacity stadium, which had turned into a sea of blue. Sharma took down Nadine de Klerk, for 18, for the final wicket as India celebrated with the thousands of supporters inside the ground and millions outside in the cricket-ma...

Jemimah Rodrigues hit an unbeaten 127 to make India pull off a record ODI chase of 339 against Australia in a thrilling second semi-final of the Women’s World Cup on Thursday. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare in the outskirts of Mumbai at DY Patil Stadium. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations in the Indian camp with smiles and tears of joy in the dug out. India will face South Africa in the final at the same venue on Sunday with the 50-over marquee tournament to get a new champion. The hosts made history to get past the previous best chase of 331 by Australia against India in the league stage of this edition. Seven-time champions Australia faltered in their title defence and suffered their first defeat in the ODI World Cup after 15 victories since 2017 when India beat them in the semi-final. India looked in trouble at 59-2 in the 10th over, but Rodrigues and Kaur rode th...

Pakistan’s hopes of of a first victory at the Women’s World Cup were hit by rain on Wednesday with their crucial fixture against England being abandoned after a second downpour at the R. Pramedasa Stadium in Colombo. Chasing a revised target of 113 to win after earlier rains had reduced the match to 31 overs per side, Pakistan were 34-0 in 6.4 overs when rains returned to end any chance of the match being completed. Fatima Sana shone with the ball earlier as England could only make 133-9 after being put into bat. The Pakistan skipper ended with figures of 4-27 that included three of the English top-order batters including their captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. England’s innings was interupted in the 25th over when rains first arrived in the Sri Lankan capital before the game resumed several hours later. Having lost their first three matches at the tournament, Pakistan needed a win to boost their chances of reaching the semi-finals and they looked a team on a mission. Just in the second over of the first innings, Dia...

South Africa’s lower order once again came to the rescue after a top order collapse, edging out Bangladesh by three wickets in a nail-biting finish in the Women’s World Cup in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Chasing 233, the Proteas were on the ropes at 78-5, but their tail refused to throw in the towel, showing the same grit that saw them turn the tables on India in their previous outing. A gutsy 85-run stand for the sixth wicket between Marizanne Kapp, who made 56, and Chloe Tryon, 62, steadied the ship and gave the chase a fresh lease of life. Both batters brought up their half-centuries, but their dismissals reopened the door for Bangladesh, who sniffed an upset. Then, Nadine de Klerk, South Africa’s player for a crisis, walked in and saw her side over the line. Her unbeaten 37 off 29 deliveries guided her side home with three balls to spare. “I am lost for words, actually. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I’m happy we pulled this off,” said Tryon, who was named player-of-the-match. “We just wanted to stay calm ...

COLOMBO: It’s the fourth consecutive Sunday of a Pakistan-India cricket encounter; the only difference being that the hot and arid climate of Dubai has been replaced with the humid and rainy weather of Colombo, and of course, the gender of the players on the field. However, the differences are starker once a person starts to peel back the surface of the women’s game in both countries. On one hand, we have players from across the border who have opportunities like the Women’s Premier League available, where compensation reaches upwards of $400,000 for the highest-paid players. On the other hand, barring a few players in the national side and those who make it to final rosters of a handful of cricket leagues worldwide — Pakistani domestic women cricketers’ monthly retainers were even less than the government-mandated minimum wage this year. To say that the gulf in resources available to both teams is large would be an understatement of the century. Furthermore, in yet another familiar scenario at the start of a...

Bangladesh kicked off their 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup campaign in style, cantering past Pakistan’s modest 129 with seven wickets and 18.5 overs to spare in Colombo on Thursday. Debuting opener Rubya Haider announced herself with an unbeaten half-century, steering the chase with the composure of a seasoned pro as Bangladesh barely broke sweat in pursuit of the below-par target. But it was their bowlers who set the tone. Lone seamer Marufa Akter struck with a double blow in her very first over — two wickets in successive balls — before a spin web tightened the screws on a hesitant Pakistan line-up. “We are thrilled to get a win under our belt in our first outing,” said Marufa. “There was a lot of support from my teammates. Special credit to our team analyst who fed me with some valuable input leading into the game. “We showed lot of energy on the field and we take lot of positives from this game.” With a rich spin arsenal at their disposal, Bangladesh never let Pakistan off the hook. Left-arm spinner Nahid...

A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official has stated that there is “no assurance” that India and Pakistan players will shake hands when the two sides meet during the Women’s World Cup on Sunday, according to the BBC. The development comes days after tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad spilled over onto the cricketing field during the Sept 9-28 Men’s Asia Cup staged in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), when Indian cricketers refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts during all three clashes in the tournament. The tensions had culminated in India not accepting the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief. The tournament had seen the first cricket matches between the two sides since the military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May after India had launched air strikes in Pakistan over the Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir. Pakistan had denied involvement, and the crisis eased following US in...

Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati won the Women’s Ballon d’Or at an awards ceremony in Paris on Monday, the third consecutive year she has taken the prize. Bonmati edged out Mariona Caldentey, her teammate in the Spain side beaten on penalties by England in the Women’s Euro 2025 final in July. The 27-year-old midfielder also lost the Women’s Champions League final with her club last season, at the hands of Caldentey’s Arsenal. Bonmati was named player of the tournament at the Euros, despite not starting either of Spain’s first two matches as she recovered from a bout of viral meningitis. Alessia Russo, one of the nominees from the triumphant England European Championship team, came in third place. The Ballon d’Or is the most prestigious individual prize in both men’s and women’s football, and Bonmati’s run of three in a row follows back-to-back victories for her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas. Norway’s Ada Hegerberg and USA star Megan Rapinoe are the only other players to have won the Wome...

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday said the upcoming Women’s Cricket World Cup would feature an all-female panel of umpires and match referees for the first time in the 50-over tournament’s history. “While three recent events — the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the two most recent ICC Women’s T20 World Cups — have featured all-female match official panels, this is the first time in the history of the Women’s World Cup the feat will be achieved,” the ICC said a statement. The 13th edition of the Women’s World Cup is set to be held in India and Sri Lanka from September 30. The tournament would be overseen by a group of 14 umpires, including Claire Polosak, Jacqueline Williams, Sue Redfern, Lauren Agenbag and Kim Cotton. The ICC statement mentioned that Polosak, Williams and Redfern “will be appearing at their third Women’s World Cup” this year while Agenbag and Cotton “will be at their second World Cup”. View this post on Instagram The all-female panel of match officials for the Wor...

• Gender pay gap at 25pc hourly, 30pc monthly • Women make up only 13.5pc of workforce ISLAMABAD: Women in wage employment earn substantially lower wages than their male counterparts in Pakistan, according to a report launched by the International Labour Organ­isation (ILO) on Wednesday. The ‘Pakistan Gender Pay Gap Report 2025’ estimates the gender pay gap at approximately 25 per cent based on hourly wages and 30pc based on monthly wages. The gender pay gap in Pakistan is also significant by international standards. In comparison, lower-middle-income countries — the income group Pakistan falls under — have an average gender pay gap of 21pc based on monthly wages and 17pc based on hourly wages. While launching the report, Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis Nadeem Aslam Chaudhary reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to ensuring equal pay for work of equal value. He said the report and accompanying action plan represent a vital step towards identifying and addressing the barriers that hinder women’s p...

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary, Ambassador Amna Baloch on Tuesday, in a tribute marking the International Day for Women in Diplomacy, extended her warm greetings to women diplomats around the world and especially acknowledged the achievements of Pakistani women serving in foreign missions.