KATHMANDU, JUNE 18

Nepal defeated Kuwait by 25 runs for their second straight in the ACC Women's T20 Championship at the Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today.

Batting first, Nepal posted 107-4 in their allotted 20 overs before restricting Kuwait for 82-7. Nepal, who outplayed Bhutan by 50 runs in the first match yesterday, will take on Bahrain on Monday.

Invited to take the first strike, Nepali openers Jyoti Pandey and Bindu Rawal failed to give desired start after Rawal (11) was dismissed in the fifth over with 19 runs on the board. Pandey, who scored 15 off 24 balls, and Sita Rana Magar (five) were dismissed in the space of two balls as Nepal struggled at 33-3 in the eighth over.

After Kajal Shrestha (five) was out in the 13th over, skipper Rubina Chhetry and her deputy Indu Barma shared a record 60-run partnership for the unbroken fifth wicket to post a challenging total.

Player-of-the-match Chhetry top scored with an unbeaten 34 off 37 balls with the help of four boundaries, while Barma struck two fours in her 33-ball 28 not out. They beat the previous record of 32 runs shared by Apsari Begam and Sarita Magar in 2019, which was equalled by Chhetry and Kajal Shrestha against Bhutan yesterday.

Mariamma Hyder took two wickets for Kuwait, while Maryam Omar and Khadija Khalil grabbed one wicket each.

In reply, Ashimna Karmacharya struck in the second over to dismiss Kuwait opener Maryam Omar (five), while Zeefa Azeem (six) also fell cheaply. Priyada Murali and skipper Amna Sharif Tariq added 35 runs for third wicket before Kuwait lost another five wickets in space of 18 runs.

Murali top scored with 31 off 40 balls that included two fours and a six, while Tariq contributed 14. Mariyamma Hyder scored a four in her unbeaten 16 off 14 balls.

Sita Rana Magar took 2019 for Nepal, while Ashmina Karmacharya, Sangita Rai and Indu Barma grabbed one wicket each.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 19, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.