AUS-W vs PAK-W

9:53 PM local time and IST: So that is a wrap from Colombo for now! It was a day without any rain, and it was a day filled with a lot of action and twists! Australia Women were good enough to hold their nerves and come back from a precarious position to show us all, why they are tournament favourites. The action now shifts to Vizag as India take on South Africa tomorrow. The first ball will be bowled at 3:00 PM local time and IST. Do join us for that, friends. This is the pair of Darpan and Bidipto taking your leave. Keep following Sportskeeda! 

Alyssa Healy (Australia Women captain): "2 points! We've come for that! But Beth Mooney played perhaps one of the best innings of all time! Just amazing! We didn't adapt quick enough to the change in the pitch, it was dry, but we should have batted better. But now, it's a different venue and a chance to focus on our next match against India. We have good depth, we are creating partnerships down the order. Need to do that up the order too. We will get to watch South Africa against India tomorrow, how the pitch plays there. So let's see how things unfold and what we can take away from there." 

Sana Fatima (Pakistan Women captain): "We are on top for the first 20 overs of the match, but after that, our girls' energy was down. You need to to be on top of your game right through the 50 overs. We need to improve on this going forward. But Beth Mooney played superbly! We decided to bowl because of the pitch, our spinners aided that decision too. We need a discussion with the batters. We need them to hit the 200-mark." 

Beth Mooney is the Player of the Match. She says, "This ton ranks pretty high. We were in a tricky situation. There were a lot of questions for me to answer. But then Kim Garth and Alana King did well. The message from the sidelines was to get a partnership going. Pakistan bowlers did well. Some balls turned, some did not. Being out there in the middle and batting in the nets here helped me lay down how I will go about playing against the subcontinent teams.(On King) She was incredible. Lucky enough to play with her for Australia and at (Perth) Scorchers. She is a breath of fresh air. Great teammate. One of the best going around. I soaked my head down in iced water in the mid-innings break and changed my clothes before I came back on the field."

9:37 PM local time and IST: Australia Women win by 107 runs with 13 overs and 3 balls to spare! 

Beth Mooney 109 (114) | Kim Garth - 3/14 (6)
Sidra Ameen 35 (52) | Nashra Sandhu - 3/37 (10)

After an inspired comeback with the bat in the 1st innings, Australia needed to come out strong and take wickets from the outset. After 36.3 overs, we can safely say that Australia did what Australia do! 

The first wicket fell in the third over and it started a bit of a procession. It didn't really require a spinner to take wickets, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt and Annabel Sutherland took care of things for a long time! 

The ball swung, it seamed and it bounced. The three quicks made sure it did all of that and in the end, take wickets. The first six wickets were all to the quicks! That itself broke the back of the opposition batting, as the score at the fall of the 6th wicket was 49! 

There were a few moments of frustration for the Australians as the last two wickets hung around for a bit. Not that they scored runs, but just passed some time to keep Alyssa Healy interested in her bowling changes. 

All the three spinners on show bowled well, but it was Alana King's classic leg-breaks that were just out of the top drawer! 

On the whole, an Australia-like bowling performance, from Australia. Ably supported in the field and with the captaincy! 

36.3 Annabel Sutherland to Rameen Shamim, BOWLED! Australia win... by 107 runs! Remember, there was a stage in the game when it seemed as if they won't even get that many on the board, let alone have that winning margin. But then, this is why they are the perennial favourites. This last ball was angled in on a good length, pitched not too far from the middle pole and then straightened to zip past the outside edge of the bat and clattered into the furniture behind, leaving them in shambles — a state that pretty much embodies Pakistan's batting tonight. 

36.2 Annabel Sutherland to Rameen Shamim, slower ball on a similar length, off and middle line. Shamim presses forward, allows it to come close and then dabs it into the ground.

36.1 Annabel Sutherland to Sadia Iqbal, angles it in at the off stump, off the fuller side of good length. Nudged towards third for a single,

Alana King wanted to finish it in this over itself. But, as it is, the final pair is stubborn at times. Anyway, she has been impressive with her flighted leg-breaks tonight. 

35.6 Alana King to Rameen Shamim, straighter line, on a similar length. Shamim tried to sweep it away, only to get an edge onto the front pad. The ball did balloon up but landed way before Healy could get to it.

35.2 Alana King to Sadia Iqbal, fuller delivery hurled with a flighted trajectory. Sadia presses forward and nudges it towards the front of square leg.

Australia wanted to win big tonight. And they are really close to getting it now. The net run rate will be pretty high for them in just a bit.