By Julian Linden
OCA Media
Nagoya, Japan, September 22, 2026: Fatima Sana delivered the perfect captain’s knock just when her team needed something special to help Pakistan’s women cricketers celebrate their first Asian Games medal in 12 years.
Sana blasted 45 off just 30 deliveries to steer Pakistan to a 31-run victory over Bangladesh in a high-scoring and entertaining playoff match for the bronze medal at Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin City.
The Pakistan skipper came to the crease with her team in deep trouble at 67-5 but immediately went after the Bangladesh bowlers from the moment she took strike, belting three boundaries and three sixes before finally being dismissed on the last ball of the innings to just miss out on what would have been a deserved half-century.
Critically, Sana shared a 67-run partnership with Aliya Riaz, whose 25 from 22 deliveries enabled Pakistan to overcome a slow start to post a healthy total of 145-8.
“The pitch was playing a little slower today so it was helping the slower bowlers. As a result, the score we ended up making was quite competitive towards the end,” Riaz said.
“The instruction for the bowlers was simple. To keep bowling to the plan. And that led to a lot of success for all the bowlers and we made a lot fewer mistakes than we did in the previous game.”
With the win, Pakistan’s women broke a 12-year drought to get back on the podium. Back-to-back gold medallists at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, they finished fourth in 2022 when cricket returned to the program after being left off at Jakarta in 2018.
“We got a medal after a long time,” Riaz said.
“It’s a very happy feeling even though it’s a bronze medal. Whatever opportunities we got we were able to grab those today. And we are taking this bronze medal back to Pakistan.”
The Bangladesh women missed out on a medal for the first time at the Asian Games after previously winning two silvers and a bronze.
Despite an unbeaten 46 from Sharmin Akhter and 25 from their captain Nigar Sultana, they could only muster 114-8 in reply.
“We were trying our best but we leaked a lot of runs while fielding and bowling. We wanted to restrict them to under 130,” Akhter said.
