Pakistan’s Muneeba Ali on Wednesday (February 15) created history by becoming the first women player to hit a ton for her country in the T20 format as they beat Ireland by 70 runs. She became only the sixth player in world cricket to achieve the feat, joining Deandra Dottin, Meg Lanning, Harmanpreet Kaur, Heather Knight and Lizelle Lee. The win also saw Pakistan bounce back from a defeat, having lost to India on Sunday.
Muneeba’s thoughts in Post-Match
Muneeba’s 102 came off just 68 balls and featured 14 boundaries, as she carved up Ireland’s bowling attack. Speaking after her brilliant knock, Muneeba credited batting partner Nida Dar with encouraging her at a crucial point of the innings.
“I was very confident when I got out there. When I made a start in the powerplay I thought it would be my day and I could make it count,” she said.
“Then I had a partnership with Nida and she was always telling me to keep going and score big.
“So from the 12th or 13th over I felt I could make a hundred, and she pushed me.
“I was playing with my feet and trying to understand where they were trying to bowl and make a plan where I could find a boundary," Muneeba continued.
“I want to dedicate my (Player of the Match) award to my captain and my teammates. We had a bad game (against India) and we fight a lot, but everyone is happy today.”
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Muneeba at her very best
In her 45th appearance in T20Is for Pakistan, this was the first time the left-hander had passed 50 with the bat. But her form in the format has been on the rise in the past couple of years, and this inning finally saw her convert her talent into output.
It has been in ODI cricket where Muneeba has previously shown her class, scoring one century and two half-centuries in 30 career matches to date, averaging 25.17. And now that she has a T20I ton to her name, the bespectacled opener has boosted her reputation in the shorter international format and will be looking to push on as a power-hitter for Pakistan.
Pakistan will return to World Cup action on Sunday against West Indies in Paarl. And a meeting with England on Tuesday is set to round off their group campaign and potentially decide the outcome of Group 2.
