Queenstown: Pakistan women’s team suffered injuries to a pair of experienced players — pacer Diana Baig and skipper Nida Dar as New Zealand cruised to victory in the opening match of their ODI series on Tuesday.
Pakistan lost key pacer Baig to a finger injury during a practice session before Tuesday’s match and that was further compounded when skipper Dar was struck in the face while bowling in the 44th over of the New Zealand innings and ruled out for the remainder of the match. She was replaced by Sadaf Shamas.
The 28-year-old Baig, while fielding in a practice session, suffered an injury to the index finger of her bowling arm. She was taken to a local hospital Immediately after the incident for a thorough examination, including an X-ray.
The medical reports have confirmed a horizontal fracture in Baig’s index finger, making her unavailable for the ODI series against the White Ferns.
The loss of the key players overshadowed an impressive performance from New Zealand, as veteran opener Suzie Bates scored her 13th ODI century to lead the home side to an easy 131-run triumph over Pakistan at John Davies Oval.
Pakistan were never really in the hunt in reply as they were dismissed in the final over for 234 despite a brilliant century from opener Sidra Ameen.
While Dar still has some chance of recovering in time to play in the final two matches of the series, Pakistan have already revealed Baig will miss the remainder of the series due to her injury.
–IANS