Nepal lose to Pakistan A by nine runs

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 14: Nepal made a poor start at ACC Women's Emerging Teams Cup after suffering a nine runs defeat at the hand of Pakistan A at Mong Kok, Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Winning the toss Nepal invited Pakistan A to bat first. Nepali bowlers and fielders combined to bowl out Pakistan to 87 in 19.2 overs. 

Nepali batter, however, fell short of nine runs from the victory over the Test nation side. 

After faltering with the bat, Pakistan made a comeback with tight spin bowling and restricted Nepal to 78/6 in 20 overs. 

Syeda Aroob Shah and Tuba Hassan grabbed two wickets apiece while Anosha Nasir and Umm-e-Hani contributed one wicket apiece for Pakistan.

Kabita Kunwar scored the highest 20 runs for Nepal. Her batting included two boundaries off 32 balls. Kabita Joshi remained unbeaten with 15 runs off 17 balls that included a single boundary. 

Jyoti Pandey was also not out at the crease with nine runs off 11 balls. Sita Rana Magar (6), Bindu Rawal (3), Indu Barma (4), Captain Rubina Chhetry (6) and Samjhana Khadka (7) were other single-digit scorers. 

Earlier, Opener Shawaal Zulfiqar scored the highest 28 runs off 36 balls for the winning side. Skipper Fatima Sana hit 16 runs off 23 balls that included a single boundary and Sadaf Shamas smashed two boundaries in her quick-fire 8-ball 12.

Gull Feroza scored 11 runs off 18 balls that included two boundaries.

Indu Barma was the pick of the bowler for Nepal with three wickets. Sita Rana Magar, Kabita Joshi, and Kabita Kunwar grabbed two wickets apiece to damage Pakistan’s batting.

Kabita Kunwar of Nepal was declared the Player of the Match for her all-around performance against Pakistan.

Nepal will meet India in their second match of the Cup on Thursday.