Colombo
\nRain halted play yet again in Colombo shortly after Pakistan lost their fifth wicket against New Zealand in their ICC Women\u2019s World Cup encounter on Saturday.
\nIn a must-win clash to keep alive their faint semi-final hopes, Pakistan were 92-5 after 25 overs when showers forced the players off the pitch at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
\nAn earlier stoppage in play due to the rain had reduced the innings to 46 overs a side with a 9-over play as Pakistan returned to continue their batting from 52-3.
\nEarlier, Pakistan were put into bat after losing the toss and were unchanged from their last encounter against England on Wednesday.
\nOpener Muneeba Ali got off to a great start \u2014 hitting a boundary off the first ball of the innings by clipping a wayward delivery to get off the mark.
\nShe also got a reprieve when wicket-keeper Isabella Gaze dropped her in the second over of the bowling of Jess Kerr.
\nHowever, she could not capitalise on that chance with a big score as she fell for just 22, shortly after Pakistan lost Omaima Sohail.
\nMuneeba got out courtesy of an excellent catch by Suzie Bates at short mid-wicket, while Omaima fell victim to Lea Tahuhu\u2019s pace \u2014 getting trapped lbw on one that skidded on.
\nTahuhu continued to trouble the Pakistani batters with her brisk bowling, and the in-form Sidra Amin was her next scalp.
\nSidra got out while cutting one straight to point after getting a boundary in the previous over by Sophie Devine.
\nThat was the last delivery bowled before the heavens opened up yet again in the Sri Lankan capital \u2014 which has already seen two washouts this week and is in the midst of the monsoon season.
\nAfter the first rain-induced break, Pakistan managed only 40 more runs while losing both their captain, Fatima Sana and the set batter in Natalia Pervaiz.
\nNatalia fell while trying to up the rate against spinner Eden Carson while the captain continued her lean patch with the bat \u2014 getting bowled by a Amelia Kerr googly.
\nOn Wednesday, Pakistan\u2019s hopes of a first victory at the World Cup were hit by rain, with their crucial fixture against England being abandoned after a second downpour in Colombo. The Kiwis also go into the encounter with a washout of their own against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
\nTeams:
\nPakistan: Omaima Sohail, Muneeba Ali, Sidra Amin, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper), Fatima Sana (captain), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, and Sadia Iqbal.
\nNew Zealand: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (capt), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, and Lea Tahuhu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Colombo Rain halted play yet again in Colombo shortly after Pakistan lost their fifth wicket against New Zealand in their ICC Women\u2019s World Cup encounter on Saturday. In a must-win clash to keep alive their faint semi-final hopes, Pakistan were 92-5 after 25 overs when showers forced the players off the pitch at the R. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-509485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n