The Southern Stars have made a perfect start to their ICC Women's World Cup campaign in India, defeating Pakistan by 92 runs on Friday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Stars were bowled out for a modest total of 175 in the 47th over.
But some fine bowling from Sarah Coyte (3-20) and Ellyse Perry (2-18) and a good performance in the field meant Pakistan could manage only 83 in reply to be all out in the 34th over of their run chase.
Rachael Haynes (39) and Meg Lanning (17) got the Southern Stars off to a good start at Barabati Stadium, but the middle order failed to take advantage during the middle overs.
Alex Blackwell (18) and Lisa Sthalekar (32) showed glimpses of their best form, but some big hitting from Coyte (35 not out) at the end of the innings was required to give the Stars' quicks a reasonable target to bowl at.
Megan Schutt (1-7) and Perry got rid of both Pakistan openers early on in the reply, before Bismah Maroof (43) and Nain Abidi (seven) combined to get the chase back on target.
Coyte trapped Abidi lbw to make it 3-39 and the Pakistan middle-order failed to make any meaningful contributions with the bat as wickets continued to tumble.
Maroof was the last batter out when she fell to Perry, leaving the Stars with an impressive opening victory ahead of their second match against South Africa on Sunday.
First Posted 01 February, 2013 10:42PM AEST
