Muneeba Ali: All You Need To Know About Latest Century Maker In Women's T20 World Cup History

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Cape Town, February 16: Muneeba Ali is the wicketkeeper-batter representing the Pakistan Women's team at the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 in South Africa.

On Wednesday (February 16) night, the 25-year-old from Karachi, who made her T20I debut in 2016, joined an elite club as she became the sixth century scorer in the Women's T20 World Cup history.

Muneeba achieved the feat in a Group B game agaist Ireland at the Newlands in Cape Town, where she struck 102 off 68 balls. Her knock that included 14 fours powered Pakistan to 165 and with two dismissal behind the stumps, she helped the bowlers bundle Ireland for 95 to secure a 70-run victory.

After she won the Player of the Match award, Muneeba spoke about her knock and how Nida Dar encouraged her during the crucial part of the innings.

"I was very confident when I got out there. When I made a start in the powerplay I thought it would be my day and I could make it count," she said.

"Then I had a partnership with Nida and she was always telling me to keep going and score big. So from the 12th or 13th over I felt I could make a hundred, and she pushed me.

"I was playing with my feet and trying to understand where they were trying to bowl and make a plan where I could find a boundary," Muneeba continued.

"I want to dedicate my (Player of the Match) award to my captain and my teammates. We had a bad game (against India) and we fight a lot, but everyone is happy today."

This was her 45th appearance in T20Is for Pakistan and it was the first time the left-hander had passed 50 with the bat as her previous highest score was 43 in the shortest format. With that hundred, she is among some top players to achieve the feat.

Women's T20 World Cup Hundreds List

While that was her first score over a 50 in T20Is, Muneeba, who made her ODI debut in 2018 has scored a hundred and two fifties in the 50-over format. This is also her fourth Women's T20 World Cup, having appeared in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2023 editions.

As for her record in T20Is, Muneeba has scored 655 runs in 43 innings at a strike rate of 83.97, and in ODIs, she has amassed 730 runs in 30 innings at an average of 25.17. As a wicketkeeper, she has 22 dismissals each in both ODIs and T20Is.