'I am quite pleased with the five wins we achieved'- Pakistan women coach David Hemp

Pakistan women's team may have lost the final ODI of the three-match series to Sri Lanka by 93 runs, but head coach David Hemp is satisfied with the overall performance of the home side that swept Lanka 3-0 in the T20Is before winning the ODIs 2-1.

The Bismah Mahroof-led unit went down to Sri Lanka by 93 runs in the final ODI thanks to an all-round performance from Chamari Athapaththu.

However, the home side did manage to not only win the series but also bag 4 crucial points in the ongoing ICC Women's ODI championship (2022-25).

Top-six teams, including the hosts of the 2025 event, will directly qualify for the quadrennial event. While Hemp is pleased with the series, he feels that Pakistan needs to continue with the momentum as they will most likely face tough competition from South Africa, Sri Lanka for direct qualification.

"Today [third ODI] was disappointing we certainly didn’t do ourselves justice across all skillsets. But overall, I am quite pleased with the five wins we achieved. The teams we will be scrapping with for the 2025 World Cup qualification spots are likely to be teams like Sri Lanka and South Africa, so every win and every point becomes important," Hemp was quoted as said by ANI.

"It is a big positive for us that the games that we won had a different player of the match in each game, which means we are not relying on one or two key players. Tuba Hassan and Ghulam Fatima stepped up in the series, and we didn’t have Nashra Sandhu here due to an injury. With all these players in the spinners pack, we have quality and depth for the selectors to consider. Amongst the batters, it was great to see Sidra Amin score another century. I still believe as a batting group we can score 230-240 regularly, and I want the players to be more consistent,” he added.

While the next set of ODI fixtures are still some time away, the next few months will be crucial for the T20I team, with a tri-series in Ireland and Birmingham Commonwealth Games around the corner.

Hemp is realistic about the expectations he has from his team. However, since Pakistan find themselves in a group that includes Australia and India, a semi-final finish is what he is expecting from the Mahroof-led unit.

He also reckoned that the upcoming tri-series in Ireland would serve as ideal preparation for CWG 2022.

"Expectations wise, we want to reach the semis in the Commonwealth Games, and while we have a tough group with Barbados, India and Australia, I believe that if you have to excel in such events, you have to win the big games. Before the Commonwealth Games, we have the tri-series in Ireland with Australia, the current world champions, as the third team. Besides Australia, Ireland will be a big challenge as they have recently beaten South Africa. The tri-series will provide us excellent preparation before we feature in the Commonwealth Games.”

Hemp also revealed that the Pakistan squad would have camp in Islamabad before they embark on the tour of Ireland and England.

“Before heading out to Ireland, we will have a camp in Islamabad where we will have the 15-member squad plus the reserves, so I am confident that we will have adequate preparations for the two tours,” he concluded.

The tri-series involving Australia, Pakistan and hosts Ireland will take place between July 16-24.