ISLAMABAD: After the conclusion of the six-match first phase of T20 Women’s Cricket Tournament, the second phase will commence from Monday, 5 December at the two venues of Lahore – Lahore Gymkhana and LCCA Ground, according to PCB information on Sunday.

Four teams namely Blasters, Challengers, Dynamites and Strikers will feature in the event where Pakistan’s elite cricketers will take part. The second phase will be played on a single-league basis, where two matches will be played daily on 5, 6 and 7 December. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium will host the tournament’s final between the top two sides on 9 December, which will be live-streamed on PCB’s YouTube channel. The matches will begin at 1000, while the toss will take place at 0930.

The tournament provides a great opportunity for players to kick-start their preparations for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa later next year and hone their skills in the format.

In order to incentivize domestic performers, the best performer of every match will continue to receive PKR20,000 as they were getting in the first phase of the tournament. The player of the tournament will bag PKR50,000. The winning team will receive PKR 1 million, while the runner-up will get PKR0.5million.

The first phase was a great platform for U19 players to perform and get a chance to be a part of the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup set to take place in January 2023 in South Africa.

In the first phase, three sides Conquerors, Invincibles and Stars took part in the competition, which was played on a double-league basis. Stars led by Huraina Sajjad won all their four matches in the first phase, while Conquerors won two matches and Invincibles remained winless.

In the batting charts, the 17-year-old Shawal Zulfiqar, representing Conquerors, topped the table with 161 runs from four outings, which included two half-centuries. Invincibles’ right-handed batter Gulrukh scored 133, while Stars’ skipper Huraina scored 101 from four matches.

In the bowling charts, Conquerors’ right-arm leg-spinner Syeda Aroob Shah bagged nine wickets from four matches, which included one five-fer. Aroob’s teammate, 17-year-0ld Anoosha Nasir with her left-arm spin had five scalps to her name.

Blasters squad:

Fatima Sana (Captain), Aima Saleem, Anam Amin, Ayesha Bilal, Ayesha Naseem, Bismah Maroof, Fareeha Mehmood, Gul Rukh, Huraina Sajjad, Maham Manzoor, Mahnoor Aftab, Masooma Zehra, Shawal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin and Amber Kainaat

Team management – Mauhtashim Rashid (head coach), Shahid Mehmood (assistant coach), Mahlika Mansoor (manager)

Challengers squad:

Omaima Sohail (Captain), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Anoosha Nasir, Ayesha Zafar, Dua Majid, Ghulam Fatima, Hamna Bilal, Javeria Wadood, Khadija Chishti, Lubna Behram, Najiha Alvi, Noreen Yaqoob, Rameen Shamim and Rida Aslam

Team management – Azam Khan (head coach), Nazim Khan (assistant coach), Asiya Khan (manager)

Dynamites squad:

Umm-e-Hani (Captain), Aleena Shah, Gull-e-Uswa, Gull Feroza, Kainat Imtiaz, Nahida Khan, Nida Dar, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Saima Malik, Saira Jabeen, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan, Waheeda Akhtar and Yusra Amir

Team management – Taufiq Umar (head coach), Jawad Hamid (assistant coach), Hina Azam (manager)

Strikers squad:

Muneeba Ali (Captain), Aroob Shah, Ayesha Irfan, Eymaan Fatima, Fatima Khan, Iram Javed, Javeria Rauf, Kaynat Hafeez, Maham Tariq, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Neha Sharmeen, Saba Nazir, Soha Fatima and Zunera Shah

Team management – Waqar Orakzai (head coach), Rehmat Gull (assistant coach), Aisha Jalil (manager)