Kathmandu, December 17:

Nepal strolled into the semi-finals of the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship with a four-wicket win over Kuwait at the Gym Khana grounds in Chiang Mai, Thailand today.

Opting to field first, Nepal once again proved their bowling prowess by restricting Kuwait for a paltry 36 runs in 15 overs. Chasing seemingly easy target, Nepal achieved victory in the 12.1 overs but not before coming across some tense moments.

Siobham Gomez top scored for Kuwait with 18. Rekha Rawal was the pick of the Nepali bowlers with 3-7. Keshari Chaudhari (2-8) and Sonu Khadka (2-10) took two wickets while Sita Magar and Trishna Singh bagged one apiece.

In reply, Nepal lost Maya Rawat (naught) at 3-1 in the second over and by the 10th over they were struggling at 14-5. New bowl bowlers Priyada Murali and Siobhan Gomez combined to rattle the top five Nepali wickets. Trishna Singh (two), Sabina Karki (four), Susmita Chaudhary (one) and Binu Magar (four) were all dismissed cheaply before skipper Nary pulled her team out of further trouble with unbeaten 12 runs from seven balls. Sita Magar remained not out on four.

Murali, who was declared player of the match, took three wickets conceding just three runs from five overs and Gomez took 2-11. Alina D’Silva also claimed one wicket.

The fourth consecutive victory meant Nepal lead Group ‘B’ with maximum eight points

with a game to spare. Nepal will play their last league match against China on Saturday.