KATHMANDU, AUGUST 26
Nepal defeated Hong Kong by 13 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis Method and won the MCA Women's T20 Quadrangular Series at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur today.
Chasing a target of 102 runs in the final match of the series, Nepal were 37-1 in 5.3 overs before the game was stopped by rain. As no further play was possible, Nepal were declared the winners as they were 13 runs ahead of their opponents under DL Method at a time when the match got stopped.
Earlier, Hong Kong posted 101-6 in their allotted 20 overs with five batters scoring in double figures. Skipper Ka Ying Chan top scored for Hong Kong with 29 off 45 balls, while Marina Buonocore Antonia Lamplough struck two boundaries in her 20-ball 19.
Shahzeen Shahzad remained unbeaten on 14 off 10 balls that included a four, while Yasmin Daswani contributed 11 and Iqra Sahar hit a boundary in her eight-ball 10 not out. Khushi Dangol was the pick of the Nepali bowlers taking 3-20 from three overs, while Ashmina Karmacharya and Kabita Joshi grabbed one wicket each.
In reply, Nepal lost Kajal Shrestha for a duck with just two runs on the board after she was trapped leg before the wicket by Iqra Sarkar in the first legal delivery of the innings. Sita Rana Magar, who opened the innings with Shrestha for the first time in the tournament, combined with Indu Barma to add 35 runs for the unbroken second wicket before the match was halted. Rana Magar remained unbeaten on run-aball 13 that included a boundary, while Barma struck two fours in her run-aball 19 not out.
Nepal and Hong Kong had made it to the final as the top two teams in the four-nation league. Three teams - Nepal, Hong Kong and Malaysia - had finished the league campaign with four points each after all of them recorded two victories and lost one match apiece.
They were separated by net run rate and Nepal finished at the top of the table, while Hong Kong were second and hosts Malaysia stood third.
Kuwait ended up at the bottom. Nepal had defeated Hong Kong by six wickets in the opening match of the tournament, while their lone defeat in the tournament came at the hands of hosts Malaysia in the third match.
Nepal will now play a practice match against Thailand ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifiers slated for August 31 to September 9 in Malaysia. Nepal are in Group A along with Bahrain, Bhutan, Malaysia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Group B consists of China, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Myanmar and Thailand. Top two teams from both groups will advance to the semi-finals, while the two finalists will earn berths in the global qualifiers.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 27, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
