KATHMANDU, JUNE 17
Nepal national women's team defeated Bhutan by 50 runs in the Group B match of the ACC Women's T20 Championship in Bangi, Malaysia today.
Batting first after skipper Rubina Chhetrt won the toss, Nepal posted 94-9 in their allotted 20 overs before packing Bhutan for 44 runs with 19 balls to spare.
Nepal made a disastrous start losing openers Bindu Rawal (one) and Jyoti Pandey (naught) with just one run on the board before Sita Rana Magar (four) also fell cheaply.
Indu Barma and Kajal Shrestha added 32 runs for the fourth wicket to revive the innings. Barma fell for 20 off 26 balls.
Shrestha and skipper Chhetry then shared a 32-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
At a time when Nepal looked set for a competitive total, the batters crumbled and lost the last five wickets in the space of 10 runs. Shrestha top scored with 26 off 35 balls, while Chhetry contributed 22-ball 21.
Sonam was the pick of the Bhutanese bowlers taking 4-13 from four overs, while Anju Gurung and Tashi Cheki grabbed one wicket each.
In reply, Bhutan batters failed to build partnerships and lost wickets at regular interval. They were never in contention despite chasing below-100 target. Tshering Zangmo (16) was the lone Bhutanese batter who contributed in double figures, while Ngawang Choden was the second best with eight runs.
Sangita Rai took 4-6 from 2.5 overs and she also earned the player-of-the-match award for her outstanding bowling. Kabita Kunwar (2-3) and Sita Rana Magar (2-8) grabbed two wickets each, while Asmina Karmacharya bagged one.
Nepal will take on Kuwait in their next match on Saturday. A total of 10 teams are participating in the Championship and top two will earn berth in the Asia Cup. Nepal are in Group B along with Bhutan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Hong Kong. Hosts Malaysia, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Singapore are in Group A.
A version of this article appears in the print on June 18, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
