'We need energy till the last ball' - Pakistan's problems mount after letting golden chance slip

Pakistan knew they needed to be near perfect to beat Australia, an opponent they had failed to overcome on 16 prior occasions, and for around 22 overs, they were.

There were diving catches, lightning quick stumpings, and your proverbial livewire acts of fielding. The conditions, too, were tailor-made; there were a few raised eyebrows when Pakistan opted to bowl first, but with the caliber of spinners they had in their ranks, they were confident of challenging Australia's batters.

That confidence was vindicated swiftly, as a combination of skillful bowling, efficient catching and some uncharacteristic errors in batting from a large chunk of Australia's batting unit, saw the defending champions stumble to 76 for 7.

Pakistan had never beaten Australia, and now they were closer than ever. But like a car crash in slow motion, the opportunity that had presented itself before them was snatched away brutally.

"When they're [Pakistan are] flying, they're up and about. If you get a little partnership going, they can get a little bit flat, and you can open the game up that way," Beth Mooney said after the game.

"I sort of knew we had a long time to bat, so we didn't have to do anything too rash."

That same sentiment was echoed by Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana during the post-match presentation.

"We were on top after 20 overs in the first innings. After that, Beth Mooney played well and our girls' energy came down. We need that energy until the last ball."

Mooney had struck a match-winning 109 off 114 deliveries to take the game away from Pakistan. That 109 was just five short of Pakistan's eventual tally in their chase.

Mooney's innings also served to highlight the weaknesses prevalent in Pakistan's batting unit. While Mooney rotated the strike - she took 44 singles across her innings - and shelved her attacking instincts to steer the game back towards her side, Pakistan lost wickets from the get-go.

Sidra Amin struck 35 from 52, but no other batter in Pakistan's top six reached double digits. While there is the mitigating factor that their last two games have been against Australia and India, and their first match in this tournament was against a Bangladesh outfit that is proving to be dangerous with the ball, Pakistan will know that a high score of 159 across those games is not good enough.

"It is quite disappointing for us also because we were batting well previously. We did well in the Qualifiers, we did well in the series against South Africa in the lead up to the World Cup," Sidra Nawaz said after the game.

"Here, we aren't able to create the momentum in our batting, we are trying to figure out how to solve that, and do well in our upcoming matches."

While Nawaz's comments hold a modicum of truth - there were two scores of 287 and 255 against South Africa in Lahore - Pakistan's unreliable batting unit has been a problem for some time now.

Across 35 innings since the 2022 World Cup, they have managed a score of 250 or more just five times. Even accounting for low-scoring chases, this has been a fairly worrying record, and it's something they will need to address sooner rather than later if they are to support the best efforts on the field.