By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Nepal defeated Bhutan by 4 wickets in the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers on Monday. Chasing a target of 67 runs for victory, Nepal met the target in 13.1 overs losing 6 wickets at the Kinrara Oval in Malaysia.
Unbeaten Soon Rajbanshi was the top scorer for Nepal with 30 runs off 32 balls. Likewise, Sana Prabin contributed 12 runs. No other player made any significant contribution to the team. Bhutan’s Sange Wangmo took 3 wickets giving away 22 runs. Likewise, Anjuli Ghale and Sonam took a wicket each.
Earlier, Bhutan opted to bat first after winning the toss and posted a total of 66 runs in 20 overs losing 9 wickets. Bhutan’s captain Nwagan Choden and Sange Wangmo topscored 11 runs each. Nepal’s spinner Manisha Kumari Upadhyay, captain Kritika Marasini and Anu Kadayat took 2 wickets each. Likewise, Sneha Mahara took a wicket for Nepal.
Nepal had defeated Qatar by 79 runs in the first match and were defeated by 10 wickets by the UAE in the second match. Nepal’s fourth match is against Thailand on Tuesday.
Nepal has to defeat Thailand by a wide margin to keep alive its hope of qualification. Besides that, the UAE needs to lose by a wide margin if Nepal is to qualify. The top team among the six participating teams will get an opportunity to participate in the U-19 Women’s World Cup to be held in South Africa next year.
