LAHORE: Pakistan women begin a challenging European tour on Friday when they take on the West Indies in their tri-nation T20I series opener in Dublin. After completing the Ireland-leg with their second league match against the hosts on 4 June, Pakistan will move to England for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, which runs from 12 June to 5 July.

Pakistan’s other two matches in the double-league format will be against Ireland on 31 May and the West Indies on 3 June. Both Ireland and West Indies are in Group B of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 alongside England, New Zealand, Scotland and Sri Lanka, while Pakistan are grouped with Australia, Bangladesh, India, Netherlands and South Africa.

Pakistan last toured Ireland in August 2025, winning the three-match T20I series 2-1. Their previous T20I tri-series in Ireland was in 2022, a trip on which both their matches against Australia were no-results and a match against Ireland was abandoned without a ball being bowled. In the only completed match, Pakistan defeated Ireland by 13 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.

Against the West Indies, Pakistan last competed in a five-match T20I series in Karachi in April/May 2024, with the visitors winning 4-1. Overall, the West Indies lead Pakistan 15-4, with three matches tied — all of which were decided in favour of the West Indies via Super Overs.

Pakistan women have arrived in Dublin after having featured in a run of competitive T20I cricket, including three T20Is in South Africa in February, the National Women’s T20 Tournament in March/April and a three-match series against Zimbabwe earlier this month.

Captain Fatima Sana has made the most of these opportunities, producing top-class all-round performances that have significantly enhanced her standing as Pakistan’s best women’s cricketer. In South Africa, Fatima aggregated 146 runs and picked up two wickets; she then followed up with 271 runs and eight wickets in the National Women’s T20, before rounding off with 83 runs and five wickets against Zimbabwe — including the fastest fifty in women’s T20Is, off just 15 balls, in the third match.

Besides Fatima, batters Ayesha Zafar, Eyman Fatima, Muneeba Ali, Saira Jabeen and Aliya Riaz also had decent outings against Zimbabwe, while Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu and Natalia Pervaiz bowled impressively against the less-experienced opponents. In the National T20, Muneeba, Eyman, Iram Javed and Gull Feroza were among the other standout batters. Unfortunately, none of the top five bowlers in the National T20 — Momina Riasat, Rabia Rani, Anosha Nasir, Saima Malik and Amber Kainat — managed to break into the side for the European tour.

The Dublin matches will be a perfect opportunity for the players to acclimatise and hit peak form and fitness ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup — a tournament they have attended since its introduction in 2009 but in which they have won only nine of their 36 matches, with their most notable victory being against India at the 2012 event in Galle.

PAKISTAN WOMEN’S SQUAD: Fatima Sana (captain), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Iram Javed, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (wicketkeeper), Nashra Sandhu, Natalia Pervaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Saira Jabeen, Tasmia Rubab and Tuba Hassan. Amber Kainat, Momina Riasat, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah and Umm-e-Hani (all reserves)

SCHEDULE OF PAKISTAN’S MATCHES:

29 May – vs West Indies (tri-nation series)

31 May – vs Ireland (tri-nation series)

3 June – vs West Indies (tri-nation series)

4 June – vs Ireland (tri-nation series)

14 June – vs India, Edgbaston (T20WC)

17 June – vs South Africa, Edgbaston (T20WC)

20 June – vs Bangladesh, Southampton (T20WC)

23 June – vs Australia, Leeds (T20WC)

27 June – vs Netherlands, Bristol (T20WC)