🔗 Share this article Rain Spares The English Team and Spoils Pakistan Aspirations of Memorable Triumph Pakistan came agonisingly close to their inaugural one-day international win facing the English team in Colombo this Wednesday, arriving at 34 runs without losing a wicket chasing a revised Duckworth-Lewis-Stern goal set at 113 ahead of pouring rain halted their aspirations of making history. England's Batting Struggles England’s batting has faltered from one disaster to another throughout this World Cup – they required saving by Heather Knight facing Bangladesh and by Nat Sciver-Brunt when playing Sri Lanka – in this match it appeared that their frailties would come back to trouble them, as their innings fell apart to a precarious 79/7 within the initial 25 overs. Showers and Resumption Postponed first by rain for about four hours, England came back to add 54 further runs – however, Pakistan's opening pair Ali and Sohail seemed to be handling easily the target, assisted by the unavailability of the English team's primary attackers Lauren Bell and Sophie Ecclestone due to sickness. Only additional rainfall rescued England. "Pakistan delivered exceptional bowling and posed serious challenges for us to gain any momentum in the game,” the English skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt stated to Sky Sports. "We didn't meet the standard and we’ll hold our hands up. Everyone’s practising really well and I guess it’s about discovering a method to transfer that to matches.” Tournament Implications The abandoned match means that England stay on track to advance to the semifinals as long as they win one out of their remaining three group-stage encounters facing India, Australia and New Zealand. Ground State and Bowling Performance This competition has thus far been a spinner’s paradise, yet on this occasion there was substantial movement that created issues for England's top batsmen, following heavy rain a day before that abandoned the latter part of Sri Lanka’s match against New Zealand. The youthful Pakistani skipper Captain Sana delivered an impressive period recording 5 overs, 1 maiden, 19 runs, 3 wickets, featuring a maiden over with a wicket first up, bowling Amy Jones between bat and pad via an inward-moving ball. Crucial Instances and Review System Knight again rescued herself through a well-timed DRS review versus Sana which was missing leg stump, however the Pakistan captain to strike twice during the subsequent over using two additional curving deliveries – including one that Sciver-Brunt edged onto her wickets, and another that struck Knight plumb in front. Earlier, Tammy Beaumont had left the ball to Diana Baig and was dismissed by a nip-backer which clipped the top of her wicket, while it was the left-arm bowling from Sadia Iqbal that dismissed Sophia Dunkley and Emma Lamb. Event Planning Issues Concerns could surface concerning the determination to host part of the World Cup in the Colombo venue amid the wet period, since this represents the third abandonment on this pitch – yet the English team will just feel relieved while they advance to Indore.