Birmingham, June 18 (IANS) After Fatima Sana made history as the first captain to score a half-century and claim a three-wicket haul in a Women’s T20 World Cup match, the Pakistan skipper stated she is embracing the milestone but remains focused on the bigger picture.

Sanabattled hard with an unbeaten 38-ball 55 and a 3-16, but her teammates couldn’t quite complement her efforts as Pakistan fell to a two-wicket defeat against South Africa in Birmingham.

Reflecting on her landmark performance and her leadership responsibilities, Sana said after the match, “I’m enjoying the role, but we still need to win games. I’m enjoying it, but there’s still a long way to go.

Despite her brilliant individual effort, Pakistan fell short in their pursuit, a result the skipper attributed to a failure in closing out the game. “I think we just couldn’t finish the game. The fight was there and the effort was there, but we couldn’t finish it,” she lamented.

A major highlight of the Pakistan innings was Sana’s resilient 71-run partnership with Tuba Hassan, the highest ninth-wicket stand in Women’s T20 World Cups. Against all odds, Pakistan not only batted out their quota of overs but also put up a fighting total.

Sana struck back-to-back sixes off Nadine De Klerk in the final over to bring up her fifty and closed the innings by stepping out against the pacer and slashing it behind point for a four, mustering 19 runs off the last over.

Explaining the strategy during their time at the crease, Sana noted that the duo focused on resilience and execution. “We just tried to take the game deep because we know we have the capability, and Tuba has the capability as well. We tried to take it deep and execute our plans,” she said.

When questioned about whether she should promote herself higher up the batting order given her current form, the skipper clarified that such moves are dictated entirely by team strategy rather than individual preferences. “That was a team decision. We sat together and discussed these things. It was a team decision, so we adjusted accordingly.”

“Definitely. We need to stay calm in the field, especially when the momentum is against us. We need to be calmer in those situations, and we’ll try to improve and execute better next time,” Sana concluded.

–IANS

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