Colombo, Oct 15 (IANS) Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first against England in the match 16th of the ICC Women’s World Cup, here at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.

Both teams have made a couple of changes heading into the contest. For Pakistan, Sadaf Shamas and Eyman Fatima make way for Aliya Riaz and Omaima Sohail in the playing XI. Meanwhile, England have opted for a fresh bowling combination, bringing in Sarah Glenn and Emily Arlott in place of Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Bell.

England with three wins in as many matches and are unbeaten so far in the competition, whereas Pakistan are still searching for their first win.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt said, “We have got two missing out unwell – Ecclestone and Bell are out, Sarah Glenn and Em are in. Illness in the camp, obviously not good for those individuals, but it is a chance for others down the line to get some overs under their belt.”

“In a tournament like this, you are going to need every one of your squad members, so it is a great chance for Sarah and Em to come into the game and hopefully make an impact.

“I try and start in the same place every time when I go out to bat, try and start from the beginning again and assess the conditions as best I can and go from there. But yeah, hopefully I can continue doing what I am doing.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said, “The pitch looks good and hopefully it will be advantageous for the spinners. I think there is a lot of spin on this track, and our spinners are good. We need to improve on the batting side, we need to bat longer and have partnerships in bowling and batting. We need to finish off the innings when the opposition is 76 for 7, so we need to be better there.

Playing XIs:

Pakistan: Muneeba Ali, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Ameen, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (c), Sidra Nawaz (wk), Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal

England: Amy Jones (wk), Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Sophia Dunkley, Emma Lamb, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith, Emily Louise Arlott, Sarah Glenn

–IANS

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