Birmingham Phoenix rope in Fatima Sana for the upcoming Hundred

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana will represent Birmingham Phoenix in the upcoming Hundred edition after she was roped in during the wild-card draft on Thursday. The deal makes her the first Pakistan women’s player to feature in the Hundred.

Sana picked in wild-card draft

Sana went unsold during the player auction, where she and Sadia Iqbal, the only Pakistan players on the longlist, entered the auction at a base price of £15,000 each.

That is the same amount she has been signed for in the competition for now, as she fills Phoenix’s fourth overseas spot, left empty by Australia’s Lucy Hamilton. Hamilton earlier pulled out of the tournament to manage her workload, after being picked up at the auction for £35,000.

Fatima’s deal landed less than 24 hours after her impressive display with both ball and bat for Pakistan at the T20 World Cup against South Africa at Edgbaston, which is the franchise’s home ground. The 24-year-old all-rounder scored an unbeaten 55 off 38 balls in a crunch situation as Pakistan batters kept falling like a house of cards.

Fatima’s brilliance in T20 World Cup

With the ball, she was equally impressive, as she gave Pakistan some hope of winning the low-scoring game. Sana bagged three wickets in 2.5 overs at the bargain of just 16 runs. Unfortunately, her brilliance could not guide Pakistan home, who lost their second game of the T20 World Cup.

Overall, the young all-rounder has been a force to be reckoned with across formats. She recently scored the fastest WT20I fifty against Zimbabwe, taking only 15 balls to reach the milestone.

Fatima will be the third Pakistan player at the Hundred this year, joining Usman Tariq in the same franchise and Abrar Ahmed, who will represent Sunrisers Leeds.

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