England and Pakistan teams observed a moment of silence before the start of the play in their Women's World Cup to pay their respect to the passing of the father of Shawaal Zulfiqur, the squad member of the Pakistani side. Pakistani skipper Fatima Sana had taken to social media to confirm the same on the eve of the clash.
"Both teams observed a moment of silence to pay their respects following the passing of the father of Pakistan's Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 squad member Shawaal Zulfiqar," the ICC statement on X (previously Twitter) read. The 20-year-old is yet to play in the main games of the tournament, having scored 0 and 3 one of the games against South Africa last month and then a warm-up match against the same opposition before the tournament.
As for the game, the incessant rains in Colombo attacked the Wednesday clash as well, having washed out the clash a day before between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The unseasonal rains in India and Sri Lanka aren't helping anyone as far as the ongoing World Cup is concerned, given there have been two washouts, a couple of shortened games and two more games, which started with a delay. The hopes are there for a restart but the longevity of rain is what affecting the matches, especially in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan had England on the mat at 79/7 in 25 overs and Fatima Sana and Co will be desperate to get back out on the field to get a result having being there and thereabouts in a few games and not being able to get a result in their favour. England, on the other hand, will be up against India on Sunday and hence, wouldn't want to have a loss against their name before the big clash.
