KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 23
Nepal thrashed Bhutan by eight wickets in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier at the ICC Academy grounds in Dubai today.
Batting first, Bhutan scored 61-6 in their allotted 20 overs before Nepal raced to 64-2 with 69 balls to spare to record their first victory in two matches. Nepal had faced a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Hong Kong yesterday.
Sita Rana Magar was the pick of the Nepali bowlers returning with 3-10 from four overs, while Karuna Bhandari grabbed one wicket. Only two Bhutanese batters could score in double figures. Openers Sonam Paldon and Ngawang Choden put up 30 runs in seven overs before Nepal made the breakthrough.
Bhutan then could add just 31 runs to the total in 13 overs losing five more wickets.
Choden top scored for Bhutan with 31-ball 13, while Paldon scored 29-ball 11. Both the batters struck one each boundary.
Skipper Yeshey Choden was the next best scoring 25-ball nine. Nepali fielders also affected two runs outs in the match.
In reply, Nepal openers Sita Rana Magar and Indu Barma put up 37 runs in 4.2 overs before the national team vice-captain was dismissed by Tashi Cheki for 13-ball 17 that included two fours. Barma and skipper Rubina Chhetry then added 19 runs for the second wicket to take the team close to victory.
Chhetry was run out for 10 with Nepal needing eight runs to complete the win.
Kabita Joshi joined Barma in the middle and she hit Tashi Cheki for two consecutive boundaries to finish with an unbeaten eight from just two balls.
Barma remained unbeaten on 18 off 24 balls. Nepal will play against Kuwait in the third match on Thursday. A total of six teams are taking part in the tournament with top two sides making it to next year's global qualifiers.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 24, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
