On Wednesday, October 15, the rains played spoilsport once again at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo during ICC Women's Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2025, giving the officials no choice but to abandon the contest between England and Pakistan. The Women in Green were in a great position to chase down 113-run target after a steady start from their opening batters on the back of a splendid bowling performance, but the weather ensured that the match ended in a result.
After winning the toss, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana decided to field first on a pitch expected to provide some assistance to the pacers early with the weather around at the R Premadasa Stadium. Pacer Diana Baig bowled out Tammy Beaumont to earn first wicket of the afternoon for Pakistan before
her opening bowling partner Fatima Sana got the better of Amy Jones, England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, and Heather Knight cheaply in quick succession in her first spell in the first powerplay.
Sadia Iqbal dismissed Emma Lamb and Sophia Dunkley before Rameen Shamim got the better of Alice Capsey to reduce England to 78/7 just before rain arrived in Colombo, holding up play for a few hours before the match got reduced to 31-overs-a-side. Ultimately, England managed to accelerate the scoring somewhat in the last six overs with Charlie Dean (33 off 51) and Em Arlott (18 off 23), which meant that they reached 133/9, something to compete with against a Pakistan batting lineup who have been under pressure right throughout the tournament.
In the pursuit of the 113-run target calculated as per DLS method, Pakistan got off to an impressive start but the rain made its way to the stadium once again, stalling the progress of the Women in Green when they found themselves on the verge of making history at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025. Before the weather interruption, they had reached 34/0 in 6.4 overs with Omaima Sohail scoring unbeaten 19 off 18 with four fours alongside her opening partner Mubeena Ali (9* off 22).
Due to the persistent rain with time running out to constitute a result in the match, it was called off with England and Pakistan sharing points.
