England posted a revised target of 113 runs for Pakistan from 31 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method in the rain-hit ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 match at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Wednesday.
In the match reduced to 31 overs per side, the former champions, after being put into bat first, managed to accumulate 133/9 in the allocated 31 overs.
England got off to a dismal start to their innings as opener Tammy Beaumont became the first to fall, scoring just four off as many balls before being clean bowled by Diana Baig, leaving the team at 13-1 in 1.3 overs.
In the following over, Fatima Sana struck, removing England’s second opener Amy Jones for eight, adding early pressure on the Three Lions.
Pakistan kept the momentum as Fatima claimed two more wickets in the seventh over, dismissing skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt for four off 10 balls and Heather Knight for 18 off 17 deliveries, reducing England to 39-4 in 6.4 overs.
England continued to feel the pressure when Sadia Iqbal struck, dismissing Emma Lamb for four off five balls. She followed it up in the 12th over by trapping Sophia Dunkley LBW for 11 off 21 deliveries.
Alice Capsey and Charlie Dean notched up a brief 21-run stand, but it was not enough as Rameen Shamim struck to pick up her first wicket, removing Capsey, who had scored 16 off 43, leaving the team at 78-7 in 23.1 overs.
England were reeling at 79/7 in 25 overs before the rain intervened and hindered the action for almost four hours.
After the resumption, bowling all-rounder Charlie Dean, who had made just five off 32 balls, scripted a remarkable turnaround as she scored 28 off her next 19 deliveries to give a late push to England’s total until falling victim to Pakistan captain Sana in the final over.
She remained the top-scorer for England with 33 off 51 deliveries, laced with three boundaries.
Sana led the bowling charge for Pakistan with four wickets for just 27 runs in her six overs. She was supported by Sadia Iqbal, who bagged two, while Diana Baig and Rameen Shamim made one scalp apiece.
