Il Nuovo Postiglione - Rain denies Pakistan historic World Cup win over England

Pakistan, rooted to the bottom of the points table and still searching for their first win in the eight-nation tournament, were left cursing their luck after putting England through the wringer with a brilliant bowling display that restricted the four-time champions to 133-9 in a game reduced to 31 overs.

Chasing a revised target of 113, Pakistan's openers looked in fine touch, coasting to 34-0 in 6.4 overs, before the heavens opened once more and the game was abandoned at 9:58 pm local time.

Pakistan's bowlers had their tails up from the outset, with captain Fatima Sana leading from the front.

She swung the ball into the batters and picked up three early wickets before returning after the rain break to snare another, finishing with eye-catching figures of 4-27.

"We showed today that we can beat any team. Disappointed about the rain. We were really good with the ball and the bat and we would have been happy with a win," Sana said.

It was the wicked inswinger that undid England's top order, as four wickets tumbled to seamers, leaving the defending champions in dire straits at 39-4.

Diana Baig drew first blood by rattling Tammy Beaumont's stumps, while Sana bowled Amy Jones through the gate with a brute of a delivery before removing Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt in quick succession with deliveries that jagged back sharply.

The spinners then tightened the screws, mopping up the middle order to ensure the seamers' hard work didn't go to waste.

Play was initially halted with England teetering at 79-7 after 25 overs.

When play resumed, Charlie Dean and Em Arlott offered some resistance, adding 47 runs for the eighth wicket.

England's tail added 54 runs in six overs to give their bowlers something to bowl at, but Pakistan were well ahead when the skies opened again.

England had never lost to Pakistan in 16 previous ODIs and it needed bad weather to preserve that record.

It was the third rain-affected game in Colombo this World Cup after Australia and Sri Lanka split points without a ball bowled and Sri Lanka's fixture against New Zealand also ended in a washout on Monday.

"Pakistan were top today and they never let us come back into the game. We fought back in the end, but we were not good enough. It was seaming quite a lot and we didn't adapt well," England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt said.

M.Vacanti--INP