Nepal record maiden win in Women’s Asia Cup

Nepal rode on opener Samjhana Khadka’s 72* off 45 balls (11 fours) and a three-wicket haul from captain Indu Barma (3/19) to defeat more fancied UAE by six wickets in the tournament opener to record their first win in the Women’s Asia Cup at the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Nepal got home with 23 balls to spare after restricting UAE to 115-8.

Khadka came into the Asia Cup in good form. She was the leading run-getter in Nepal’s domestic T20 competition, in May. Though she had never opened the batting in her 16 previous T20Is, Nepal decided to capitalise on her domestic form by promoting her up to the top, and she did not disappoint.

Player of the Match Khadka raced away to 50 off just 35 balls, the first half-century by a Nepal batter in the Women’s Asia Cup. She finished with her career-best T20I score - when she hit the winning runs - a score that was 56 more than the previous best by a Nepal batter in the competition.

Kavisha Egodage, the Colombo-born UAE player who was playing in Sri Lanka for the first time, dismissed Sita Rana Magar and Kabita Kunwar varying her pace and flight to return figures of 3/12. None of the other bowlers were able to exert enough pressure. UAE recovered from losing 46-4 through a 32-run stand between Khushi Sharma (36) and Egodage (22) that saw them to their final total.

Scores: 

UAE Women 115-8 (20) (Kavisha Egodage 22, Khushi Sharma 36, Indu Barma 3/19)

Nepal Women 118-4 (16.1) (Samjhana Khadka 72*, Kavisha Egodage 3/12)