We always knew that the World Cup was going to be a learning experience and if we needed a lesson in how to deliver one of the best batting performances of all time then we saw it on Thursday with Suzie Bates and Haidee Tiffen’s amazing 262-run partnership.

Suzie’s innings in particular was the best-ever innings I have ever seen, even if we did help her by bowling both sides of the wicket. The way she powerfully struck our bowlers all around the ground was quite incredible and a great lesson for us to observe.

The New Zealand and Pakistan teams have become very close during this event, ever since we played a warm-up game against each other, and they have been very helpful at passing on tips to us about how to make it at the top level.

They perhaps weren’t as kind to me when they hit 20 runs off my only over, but you certainly learn a lot more quickly when you are playing against the top players, rather than just watching footage on television or following the scores on the internet.

We need to learn from the way New Zealand works the ball around for singles during its batting, as well as improving our counter-attack play, especially ahead of the World Twenty20 in June, as sometimes we get too bogged down when we are batting. That comes with match experience, as well as more time in the gym, and we are all dedicated to improving our games.

Haidee Tiffen, at the post-match presentation, said some really nice things about our team and we are really proud that we have made such a big impression on one of the leading teams at the event. I know that Nain Abidi was very happy that Haidee took the time to come up to her and congratulate her on her fifty, which is a great effort against a quality bowling attack like New Zealand.

It would be great to finish off our memorable campaign with a win against the West Indies, who I think we played our best game against during this tournament.

To come from tenth in the world rankings in early 2008 to fifth in the world in 2009 would be an incredible achievement and a real inspiration to girls in Pakistan to take up the sport.

I don’t want to lose my place in the team just yet, but it would be fantastic to think that we can inspire a new generation of girls to play the game, in the same way that the victory of the Pakistan’s men’s team at the World Cup in 1992 inspired me to play the sport for the first time.

The New Zealand team has said it will be supporting us against West Indies, while we will definitely be cheering them against England in the final. I just can’t wait for the weekend matches to begin!

Our batting is peaking at the right time and today we didn’t mess around with the line-up much. It’s a settled batting order which makes me feel at ease ahead of meeting England. I know we took 48 overs to bowl Pakistan out but it doesn’t worry me – their openers batted really well and the rest of the line-up hardly played any shots to give us a chance. There is still some concern over the fielding – we conceded many overthrows today – and that is an area we really need to work on.

Rebecca Rolls, our former keeper, is holidaying in Australia right now and I must say she timed it well! She has always been a great supporter and morale-booster for us since she retired, always sending us texts and emails encouraging us. She is spending time with the team right now and was part of the side that rattled up 455 against Pakistan in 1997. How cool would that have been? She was certainly pleased by the show we put up.

We have been getting a lot of support from back home as well. The media coverage in New Zealand for the World Cup has been a lot more this time. There has also been an overwhelming response on our message board on the New Zealand Cricket website. But the most heartwarming and inspiring reactions have come from the New Zealand troops out in Afghanistan. The soldiers fighting there have told us they are following our campaign keenly and that is a great lift for us. We always feel proud representing our country, but moments like this make it truly special.

Looking ahead to the final, I know England have beaten us earlier in the tournament but we do not fear them at all. They have a good all-round team, a great balance of youngsters and experience but we are ready for them. Bring ‘em on, I say! While the response back home has been encouraging, I’m not sure how our performance will impact New Zealand cricket, women’s in particular. I know the board has put in plans for developing the women’s game but are contracts on the horizon? I can’t really say. New Zealand is a sport-loving country and a small one, with a population of four million, so it really feels great to represent it.

And we still have to improve in some of the areas, especially fielding. We need to take the opportunities we get: today we missed some run-outs and dropped a few catches and that can hurt us in the long run. Overall we have to be more consistent.

We gave away 21 wides today but you know it’s not like the bowlers mean to bowl them. As a captain, I try and encourage my players, give the bowlers time to settle down and have a chat with them if required. After the game today we had a de-briefing where the bowlers acknowledged that they needed to work on their lines better.

The Indian lower order, led by Reema Malhotra, batted really well and I don’t think we could have done anything to stop them. India have been successful in scoring that way – they have started out slow and taken advantage of the Powerplays to get the runs. They have relied on scoring in the death overs and that’s what they did today as well.

I am also happy that our top order is taking the responsibility of batting through the innings. Suzie [Bates] did that for us today. Learning from our failed run-chase against England, we drew up a gameplan where we wanted Kate Pulford to go out and play her attacking shots while I consolidated. Then Suzie would come in and take charge. She did just that today; it was a very mature innings from her and I can tell you she’s stoked about it.

The pitch was very good and we know the Indian spinners can tie us down so we wanted to get going before they came on.

While our net run-rate is lower than India’s and Australia’s, I think we just need to concentrate on winning against Pakistan to reach the final. It’s not too far away now!

Among the top teams, New Zealand have played England and Australia in the World Cup so far and I have to say that their bowling attacks are similar – they both have very disciplined units and good allrounders like Shelley Nitschke, Lisa Sthalekar and Charlotte Edwards. Our strength I’d say is the ability of our pace bowlers to get some nip out of the pitches – Nicola Browne and Sophie Devine manage to get bounce and swing off the tracks. What has let us down is our inconsistency.

If you see a pattern in the run-scoring in this tournament, you’ll see the teams that have done well have firstly been able to adapt to the different ground conditions: the North Sydney Oval helps fast bowlers, while Bankstown is slower, where 180 would be a good total; secondly a top-order batsman, like Anjum Chopra against Australia, has stayed on till 40 overs to steer the batting. We have that sort of batsmen, who can stay long and score at a quick rate and when we get it right we are a very strong batting team.

We meet India on Tuesday and we know we need to be on the top of our game. People are saying India’s win against Australia was an ‘upset’ of sorts but really you can never underestimate a top-ranked team even if they are in a transitional phase. Any of the top four in this World Cup can beat the rest.

I’d like to also say that the most impressive teams on this World Cup for me have been the relatively inexperienced ones – Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa. The West Indies bowlers bowl really good line and lengths while the others are also very committed on the field. They are young teams, full of enthusiasm and it’s been a revelation watching them play.

The West Indies have done extremely well at this tournament so far, so to record a win over them was an extremely good effort and it was an excellent all-round display from the whole team.

Early wickets were always going to be important and Almas Akram bowled a beautiful opening spell. She may not be very tall but she bowls with good pace and an excellent line-and-length and she received some good support from our other bowlers.

On a personal note, I was pleased with my own spell of bowling, and Bismah Maroof deserves special praise for her outstanding catch. If it had been a televised match then I think that it would have had to be one of the contenders for the catch of the year as she flung herself at full stretch to her left and managed to keep hold of the ball with one hand.

I was a bit concerned when we were reduced to 55 for 5, but I knew that Armaan Khan has the strength and power to hit the ball very hard and so my focus was just on giving her the strike while she accelerated our run rate. It was quite a big ground so it was an excellent accomplishment to hit two sixes.

It was a shame that I couldn’t stay in until the end and guide the team to victory, but the whole side was ecstatic at the end when the winning runs came.

When the game finished, we all tried to grab one of the stumps, and then we went over to salute our noisy supporters. I am not sure where they all came from but there was about 200 Pakistan fans there, making the noise of thousands, and they were singing and dancing and cheering every run. It was amazing to have that level of support from the fans.

It is very exciting that we will have the opportunity to play Australia and New Zealand in our next two matches. We know that if we are to improve our ranking in international cricket we need to have the opportunity to play the best sides in the world and having put in disappointing performances with the bat against India and England, we are determined to prove that we can score runs against the very best.

You learn things from competing against top quality opposition, so to have the opportunity to play against the likes of Karen Rolton, Lisa Sthalekar, Aimee Mason and Haidee Tiffen will be a great experience for all of us.

But are not going to be just standing in the field with our autograph books, just because we are in the presence of the game’s biggest names, and instead our focus will be on beating them. We think we have a good chance of finishing in the top four at this event and we can’t wait for our next game against Australia on Monday.

After a solid start, we just collapsed, and scoring 116 all out in a World Cup game simply isn’t good enough and we all know that. Although we only lost by two wickets, I think our brilliant bowling performance made it even more frustrating as I believe we would have won comfortably if we had scored 30 to 40 more runs.

The game against Australia was a much better performance and Alicia Smith bowled superbly to take three wickets and restrict them to 258 for 4 when at one stage it looked like they may get close to 300.

And when Trisha Chetty, who batted superbly, and I were putting on a great partnership for the second wicket I genuinely thought that we had a chance of making the target.

But Australia are the current World Cup holders for a reason and the spinners came on and tied us down, which put on extra pressure and meant we had to take some risks.

It was frustrating that none of us went onto get a really big score. We needed somebody to have a big innings like Karen Rolton did for Australia if we were to have a chance of winning.
I think this event has shown that we need to play more regular, competitive international cricket so that we have a chance of beating the best teams in the world.

With some more experience, we could have got really close to Australia, which considering it is the No. 1 side in the world, would have been an amazing achievement.

Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes and be even more competitive at the World Twenty20 in the summer, but for now we are just focussing on the challenge tomorrow.
We know that South Africa has never beaten New Zealand in a women’s ODI match, but records are there to be broken, and the fact we need to win to get through to the Super Six stage is even more important.

Nobody expects us to win, which perhaps means the pressure is off us, but there is pressure from within the team that we want to show the world what we can do.

Can I begin by thanking everybody for their comments and messages on my last blog. I read all of your words of encouragement and it was very much appreciated following the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat to India.

I promised to the people of Pakistan ahead of today’s game against Sri Lanka that we would bounce back and I don’t think anybody could have expected a better performance than the one we put in today. I said at the weekend, after our loss against India, that we didn’t play up to our potential and that we would be fine if we got things right in all three key departments – batting, bowling and fielding – and that is what we did today.

We have been waiting for years to beat Sri Lanka and it was the perfect day to win – the first time a Pakistan side had won in 19 matches against them and the first time Pakistan has won a match at the ICC Women’s World Cup. To be part of this moment of history and to captain the side makes me extremely proud. We know we have taken a vital step towards making it to the Super Six stage now, as Sri Lanka faces a difficult last match against India, so it is extremely exciting that we may get a chance to face the likes of Australia and New Zealand next week.

After registering a decent total against Sri Lanka, which could have been higher if any of the girls who got good starts had gone onto make a big score, we knew that we had to take early wickets. I got an excellent response from all of my bowlers, having made a conscious decision to hold back Asmavia Iqbal from the opening overs, and once we got some early breakthroughs I was always confident of victory.

There were a few tears coming out of my eyes at the end and it was a special moment to get this win in front of my parents. My father has really helped me with my game, while my mother is always very supportive of what I do.

To celebrate the victory tonight, some of the team are going to come out for dinner with my parents, while other players will be with their families, before we gather all together at the hotel for a celebration later on. We won’t go too crazy though as we know we have another important group match on Thursday.

We are all really looking forward to playing against England in our next match and I am excited that the game will be broadcast live on television. I hope that people at home will tune in to watch the match so that we can prove to people in Pakistan that women can play cricket.

	We need a top-order batsman to stay put through the innings © Getty Images

We arrived in Sydney at the start of the week and had warm-up games on Tuesday and Wednesday – we beat Pakistan and then lost to India. On Thursday we went for the opening ceremony of the World Cup. First to the Sydney Opera House for some photos and then across to Luna Park by ferry. The ceremony was very nice and after that we busied ourselves with captains’ interviews, eating and drinking.

Today there was a good crowd at our game and it was nice to see Wasim Akram, Debbie Hockley, Belinda Clark and Danny Morrison giving TV commentary. The pitch was doing a little early in our innings and the Australian opening bowlers were getting the ball to move off the seam. They dug in the ball and it nipped off the pitch so we had to play knuckle down play cautiously.

We got two half-century partnerships but need to look at how we can convert them into hundred-run stands. The spinners tied us down for a while but I think we played positively against them. Most of the teams will have decent spinners and what one needs to do is not let them settle down into a rhythm. I don’t mean attack them right from the start, but play positively and be clear about what shot you want to play before you play it.

We used the batting Powerplays during the Rose Bowl Series so we are familiar with them but I can’t say we utilised them well today. We should have taken it in the 41st over – the one I got out in. But you know I feel the batting Powerplays do make a difference by giving you a chance to get back into the game.

Though we won, we need to improve on our performance. Our middle order lost the plot today - from 171 for 3 we were bowled out for 205, losing our last seven wickets for 34 runs. To get totals over 250 we need someone from the top order to stay put through the innings. That’s what I was trying to do today when I got out to a silly shot.

I’d like to mention Kate Pulford’s performance here: she made her return to international cricket after six years. She took a year off in between to go overseas but has been playing domestic cricket in between. She did exceptionally well this season and is looking like she’ll be the star for us this World Cup.

Our plan ahead is to just be consistent, use our resources well and bat wisely. Let’s hope we can do it.

I think the pressure of the occasion got to us, with all our players making their debut in a World Cup, and that was shown through some poor shot selection by the top-order batting.
In the warm-up game against New Zealand, who I think is a similar standard to India, we showed that we can make runs against the best teams which makes it even more disappointing to not get the result that we wanted to today.

At 25 for 7 I really feared what would happen, but at least our eighth-wicket partnership added some runs to our total. We also didn’t bowl as well as we know we can, so we have to improve our performance in all aspects of our game in the next matches.

This afternoon we spent some time practising on the outfield to try and restore some of our confidence, just getting the feel of the ball on the middle of the bat.

It might not seem much, but just getting your confidence back and proving to yourself that you are capable of scoring runs is important when you have suffered a heavy defeat.

We know the result won’t be received particularly well back at home, particularly as it was against India, but we hope that people in Pakistan continue supporting us.

We were lucky enough to have some very vocal backing at the match today from quite a few Pakistani supporters and they have said they will be coming to watch our vital match against Sri Lanka on Monday.

The last time a Pakistan side came to Australia for a World Cup in cricket, they didn’t get off to a very good start and went onto win the men’s event in 1992, so hopefully we can use that team as an inspiration to improve our performances later in the tournament. I am very confident that we can bounce back against Sri Lanka and get through to the Super Sixes.

Despite all the disappointment, it was still very special to play my first match at a World Cup and also to be at Bowral, the home of Sir Donald Bradman, and one of the greatest players to play the sport.

If only we could have batted like him during the match, things could have been very different!

I think that gave an illustration of the depth of our ability and what we can do in this tournament and we are all hopeful of getting a top four finish.

The West Indies game for us on Sunday is massive. Some of us have played them before, back in 2005, and we also have got information on some of their games, and we are very conscious they have the potential to be an excellent team if everything is going well for them.
We want to concentrate on our game and we know if we play well we should beat them and that should set us up to make it through to the Super Sixes.

On a personal note, I am determined to play to the best of my ability and focus on getting as many runs as I can. As I am no longer captain, there is more time to focus on my game and relax, and I am determined to make some big scores during the tournament.

During the first two warm-up games, the first time we have played under Sunette Loubser’s captaincy, I decided that it was appropriate not to make too many suggestions to her in the field, as all captains have very different styles, but she knows that I am there for her if she needs my support.

This is my first time in Australia and although the schedule is very busy I am looking forward to seeing some of the tourist sights in Sydney. There was a welcome function and I was so excited about having the opportunity to see places such as the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

I feel that I have just about overcome my jetlag. There is a nine-hour time difference between Australia and South Africa, which potentially could have been a challenge, but we did as much as we could to prepare ourselves for this and we got some really good advice from the men’s teams.

All the squad tried to sleep on Australian time zones two days before we came out and even on the plane we were told when we were allowed to sleep and when we were not. With two consecutive warm-up matches after we arrived, we wanted to try and ensure we were not jetlagged, and this has seemed to have worked!

It is now one day till our first match and I have mixed feelings of anxiety, nerves and excitement ahead of our opening game.

It is an amazing feeling to be part of the women’s World Cup, the biggest event in women’s cricket, and to play in my first major international tournament.

Preparations have gone well, with some improved showings against Bangladesh during the triangular series last month, although once again we didn’t score enough runs with the bat.
However, the warm-up matches have been much more encouraging with some good totals against New Zealand and South Africa and we know we will need to maintain and improve that standard if we are going to have a chance in this competition.

It is great to be in Sydney and fantastic to have the support of my parents with me, who have both flown out from Karachi for the tournament. We will at least have some support here as some of the other players in our squad have siblings who live in Australia as well.

I have really liked what I have seen of the city and have been lucky enough to go to two welcome functions which have both provided spectacular views of the harbour area.

I would really love to go on a fishing trip if there was time but the thing I most want to do while I am here is to attempt the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb as I have heard that it is an amazing feeling when you get to the top. Maybe if I do the climb I will be able to be given the day off training!

It has been great to be staying in the same hotel as all of the teams and meet some of the greatest players in the women’s game. It is like a dream to be able to talk to the sport’s biggest names and find out how they prepare for matches.

I was honoured to sit next to Charlotte Edwards at dinner on Wednesday night who I believe has done a lot for the women’s game.

She mentioned it will be her fourth World Cup – obviously this is my first event – and I appreciate the dedication it has taken to help her become one of the world’s greatest players.
India will be a very tough challenge on the opening day of the event, but we have targeted the Sri Lankan game as one we certainly are capable of winning.

Having played them so many times we know what the strengths and weaknesses of the Sri Lankan team are and we believe we are at the same level as them – we just need to make sure we adapt well to pressurised situations as I know we are capable of defeating them.

We are obviously all very sad about what has happened back at home this week and our sympathies go out to the Sri Lankan men’s cricket team and everybody affected by what happened, but we have to keep our focus on playing cricket and doing the best we can at the World Cup.

The team is presently young and slowly gaining experience. Over the two years I watch the team members grow in stature and maturity, taking on a vast responsibility. I wish the team all the best and my thoughts and prayers are with them. There are a few players who will show their class and wit during the world cup. I will not single those players out at this time. There will be a few surprises and I am looking forward to it.

But, I will admit I felt sorry I had to disappoint the team by my sudden departure from the game. I must say it is for the good. One must understand when the mind and the body say no it means no. When the support is not forthcoming this can breed discontentment. When the fun is out of the game also the joy of playing goes with it. It was just not me. My experiences, knowledge, players, well wishers and love of the game were the only thing keeping me going. However, the experiences and the behaviour of some makes you wonder if they knew what it means to have fun and play the game seriously? A word to the wise, “you must have fun to play with passion…”

With my achievement, recognition to the sport of women’s cricket within the Caribbean has reached a new high. I have been featured around the world and the Caribbean and still I find myself not achieving much to the sport. My achievement is a scratch on the surface and not worthy of much praise. I now look forward to my main career and focus on other areas of life I neglected in the past.

It is nice to be stationary for a while and do not look forward to travelling the world and the region. I will miss the camaraderie with team-mates local and regional. The friends and pen pals you acquire from opposing teams regionally and internationally. To date, we are still corresponding. The fun of playing the game is forever in my heart and I will surely miss.

I would like to take the time out to thank all who assisted and contributed to me in my cricketing career. Without your support my career and achievement would not be possible.

I will still make myself available in the future to assist in one way or the other in imparting knowledge and performing some form of administrative role in promoting and administrating women’s cricket. The love of the beautiful game of cricket will never die.

We have a fair idea of Australian conditions and Australian bowlers which will help us in preparing for the tournament. Australia tried out quite a few young players against us and I have to say none of them played like debutants. Even the Under-21 players played some tough cricket. There is hardly any difference between domestic and international sides while touring Australia. We would do really well to learn from their fighting spirit and don’t-give-an-inch attitude.

In fact I have seen a lot of youngsters in our domestic season this year who have the right attitude for the international level. They don’t worry about names when they play and I appreciate that. I believe there need be no undue respect on the field for star players.

The Australian tour was also the first in three years that I was not captain of the Indian team. But I can honestly tell you it did not affect my playing. I continued to bat in the same position and fulfill the responsibilities that come with being a senior player.

I hope we rediscover our mojo by the time the World Cup starts. The team that reached the 2005 final had been playing together for two years and had really gelled well on and off the field. I’d say that was key to our success then.

One setback we have faced in our preparation this time is that we are playing two-day cricket before heading to Australia. Our 50-over matches were completed earlier and that means we go to the World Cup not having had enough opportunities to practice our one-day shots. What would have been ideal are more tournaments like the Challenger Series – where the level of competition is not skewed.

I am now heading to Bangalore for a camp for the World Cup probables. The final squad is expected to be announced on January 31. This year will be a big one for women’s cricket with two World Cups. We have a chance to raise the game’s profile and an opportunity to make a mark and give the BCCI good reason to extend more facilities to women.

	West Indies' inexperience showed up against England © Getty Images

Being the captain of a very young and inexperienced team had its challenges. Despite knowing and seeing the ladies perform at the regional level, I was not sure how they would have handled or coped with the international arena. With two whitewash series wins against Ireland and Netherland respectively I could not have asked for more. We had a disappointing loss against England where the inexperience of the team showed greatly.

The ladies proved they had the capability to adapt and take on the challenges and gain international experience. With such a young and inexperienced team I could not ask for anything more than the best of all members. The team showed depth in their game and made my job as captain that much easier. Bowlers and batsmen understood what their individual task was on the team. The team performed admirably throughout the tour. During the European tour our management team was able to assess the team and record areas of weaknesses to rectify before World Cup 2009.

With personal mixed performances the team on a whole performed beyond expectation. We now focus on the goal of achieving the momentous task of competing at the highest level at the 2009 World Cup. The new caps performed admirably and with more international matches and training I am sure the West Indies women will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. Recap players showed a level of experience and assisted in areas that their services were needed. Kudos for the technical team and their hard work and dedication to ensuring the tour was a success.

Qualifying for the World Cup was the main focus of the team. The team had not played any form of international cricket for over three years. Hopes of many players were shattered when the first tour (Sri Lanka) had fallen through. The team felt their hard work was in vain.

I received calls from team-mates asking about our standing for the World Cup 2009. With the West Indies Cricket Board coming onboard we were able to get the requisite matches to qualify.

Thank God for the new board’s commitment to women’s cricket. I wondered what would have happened if it had not come on board. We were struggling and the likelihood of not participating in the World Cup was imminent.

Having fears of not being able to compete would surely put a damper on dreams of players aspiring to playing at the highest level. The hard work of the 2005 team awarded them the fifth overall place and gave them a qualifying place for WC 2009. The idea that the team would not qualify because we did not play the required matches could not be fathomed.

To win the World Cup is a hard task for the team. We are definitely trying to catch up with the other teams who have qualified for the World Cup.

All those teams are competing on a regular basis and getting the necessary exposure and matches to facilitate their development.

The West Indies team is trying desperately to reach a certain standard. We are preparing for a tour to Asia (Pakistan and Sri Lanka) which would help in our preparation.

I am extremely happy we are getting tremendous assistance from the board and the team is looking forward to competing at the World Cup in Australia.

	England’s bowlers bowled a great line which pressured the batsmen to play high-risk shots © Getty Images

Away from the tour of England, I am greatly excited by the news this week that the ICC are going to be launching the first-ever rankings for women’s cricket. I think this is a step in the right direction, as if it is something that has been shown to work in the men’s game, then there is no reason why it shouldn’t work in the women’s game as well.

I also believe that the rankings will help the public better identify some of the leading players in world cricket, particularly when not that many women’s international matches are broadcast on television at the moment.

While the main focus will always be on making sure your team win, it will be nice to know that there is something else to play for in every game and I am sure everybody will be keen to do as well as they can in the rankings.

However, I am sure those who are the top of the rankings will be under that extra bit of pressure to perform, as every opposition player will want to do well against them and show that they are capable of competing with the very best cricketers in the world.

I am looking forward to seeing where we are all rated in the rankings, which I believe will be unveiled in October, and I am sure there will be some jokes flying around the dressing room when they are released on where players are ranked.

Until then, it is a case of training, practice and mental preparation, and day-dreams of World Cup success. Oh – and a place near the top of the batting rankings would be nice too!