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England won against Pakistan by 37 runs and dealt their first blow in the three-match ODI series at Derby.
Pakistan, who were chasing 244 points for victory, finished with 206 for 9 as spinners Sophie Ecclestone (3 for 26) and Charlie Dean (2 for 39) helped England turn the tables. did.
Ecclestone moved within two wickets of becoming the fastest to reach triple figures in women’s ODI cricket, but needs to do so in the second match of the series on Sunday to surpass Australia’s Kathryn Fitzpatrick.
Pakistan had a comfortable lead of 149 for 4 in the 35th over, but their hopes were dashed as they lost five wickets for 29 runs in seven overs.
Sadaf Shamas, Muneba Ali and captain Nida Dar, who had taken three wickets earlier, laid a solid foundation as Pakistan sought their first ODI win against England in their 13th attempt.
The tourists also benefited from England’s wayward pitching, with an astonishing 31 wides out of a record total of 40 extras and two spills behind Amy Jones’ unusual stumps. there were.
But Lauren Bell (2 off 31) found some movement off the pitch to surge up the top of the order, with Ecclestone and Dean setting up comebacks before Kate Cross picked up a couple of late wickets.
England, without Danny Wyatt due to illness, were asked to bat and posted figures of 243 for nine in their 50 overs.
Maia Bouchet scored 17 before being felled by Nashra Sandhu and fellow opener Tammy Beaumont, on her international return after missing the T20 games, scored 33 before Umm-e-Hani again won an lbw appeal.
Captain Heather Knight was dropped twice by Hani for 0 and 18, but was eventually dismissed for 29 after wicketkeeper Najiha Alvi denied a cut from Aliya Riaz.
Nat Silver-Brunt averaged 80 against Pakistan but fell just short of another run against Riaz, dropping to 31 behind, but England were 118 for four and needed some consistency in the middle stages.
That came in the form of 67 points, a deft partnership between Alice Capsey and Jones, with Jones dominating the alliance with 37 off 38 balls.
The teenager showed maturity beyond his years by scoring an ODI-best 44 after a string of low scores in this format of the match.
Dean scored a useful 20 with Fatima Sana’s drop in the final over (the fourth of the innings) to stop Pakistan from bowling out England for the first time in a one-day match.
