Debutant Tuba shines in Pakistan's win over Sri Lanka in first T20

Debutant leg-spinner Tuba Hassan Tuesday showed her true potential as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the opening game of three-T20I series at Karachi’s Southend Club.

Sent into bowl first, Pakistan's young debutant Tuba joined her spin partner Anam Amin who took two early wickets for the Green Shirts as they restricted visitors to 106-8 in 20 overs.

Openers Hasini Perera and Chamari Athapaththu fell prey to Anam which left the tourists suffering at 13-2 initially.

The leg-spinner then bagged two back-to-back wickets to reduce Sri Lanka to 58-4. Harshitha Madavi (25) and Nilakshi de Silva (25) resisted a bit but Tuba and Aiman did the job for Pakistan to break the good going partnership.

Anam bagged as many wickets as Tuba whereas Aiman Anwer took two wickets for the hosts.

Set to chase 107, Pakistan lost debutant opener Gul Feroza for naught but Muneeba Ali (18) and Iram Javed (18) kept the scoreboard ticking. The two batters put 30 runs together before Oshadi Ranasinghe removed Iram on a stump.

Pakistani skipper Bismah Maroof scored 28 runs to ensure smooth run-chase for the home side but they needed Nida Dar to stand out there to complete the target. The experienced all-rounder remained not out for 36 runs laced with two boundaries and a six.

Sugandika Kumari and Kavisha Dilhari bagged a wicket each apart from Ranasinghe's two wickets.