Pakistan Bowl; England Replace Unfit Ecclestone with Glenn

During the Pakistan vs England match in Colombo, Fatima Sana, the captain of the team, won the toss and chose to bowl first. Aliya Riaz and Omaima Sohail have been included in the Pakistan team as they are hoping to claim their maiden match in the Women's World Cup 2025. 

Unbeaten England was forced to make two replacements following the illness of two players. Spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who had bowled 4 wickets at 17 against Sri Lanka on Saturday, and seamer Lauren Bell were both replaced. Em Arlott, a seam bowler who made her international debut at the age of 27, and legspinner Sarah Glenn both earned their England XI World Cup debuts in this match.

Pakistan has failed to win its earlier matches and has made two changes for this match to boost a struggling batting line-up, bringing in Omaima Sohail at the top of the order and Aliya Riaz at number four. Sadaf Shamas and Eyman Fatima gave way.

"We need to bat longer," Sana said at the toss. "The pitch looks good and hopefully it will be an advantage for the spinners."

Nat Sciver-Brunt, the England captain who scored a century in the previous match, said her preference had been to bowl first too, "partly to do with the weather but also to make use of the pitch".

After heavy rain canceled Tuesday's match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, this game was scheduled to start on time under humid circumstances.

Pakistan Women Playing XI for Match 16: 

1 Omaima Sohail, 2 Muneeba Ali, 3 Sidra Amin, 4 Aliya Riaz, 5 Natalia Pervaiz, 6 Sidra Nawaz (wk), 7 Fatima Sana (capt), 8 Rameen Shamim, 9 Diana Baig, 10 Nashra Sandhu, 11 Sadia Iqbal

England Women Playing XI for Match 16: 

1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Amy Jones (wk), 3 Heather Knight, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 5 Sophia Dunkley, 6 Emma Lamb, 7 Alice Capsey, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sarah Glenn, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Em Arlott