Nepal finish 3rd in ACC U19 Women’s T20 Asia Cup

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 21: Nepal finished third in the inaugural ACC U19 Women’s T20 Asia Cup after they lost to Bangladesh by nine wickets in the final game of the Super 4 stage at Bayuemas Cricket Oval, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday.

After the win, Bangladesh booked its berth in the final of the tournament against India. India defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets in the first game of Friday to reach the final.

Meanwhile, while Sri Lanka and India played without any hindrance, Nepal’s game was once again affected by rain, the third time in the tournament.

Nepal’s group-stage game against India on December 17 was cancelled after the first three overs of the second inning while the Super 4 match against Sri Lanka on Thursday was called off after the first over of the first inning. 

Before facing Bangladesh, Nepal had one win from three games while two ended with No Result. Thus, the defeat from Bangladesh was the first loss for Nepal in the tournament.Nepal would have qualified for the final if they defeated Bangladesh but the youngsters could not deliver well in the game that was reduced to 11 overs each due to rain.

Nepal was on a high as the team defeated Pakistan in the first game of the tournament. However, Bangladesh, topper of Group B, was not interested in Nepal’s win as they wanted to emerge victorious against an Associate.

“We will be looking forward to restricting Nepal under 40 runs,” said Sumaiya Akter, Bangladesh’s skipper, after winning the toss and electing to field first in the 11-over-per-side game. On the other hand, responding to the plan of Bangladesh, Nepal’s skipper Puja Mahato said, “Our target is to score 100 runs in 11 overs.”

While none of the teams could do as their skippers said, Bangladesh was able to restrict Nepal to a paltry. Nepal crossed the expectation of Akter, but the team could not fulfil the promise by Mahato as they could only score 54 runs in the loss of eight wickets.  

One of the major reasons behind Nepal’s performance with the bat was poor running between the wickets. Opening duo Sana Praveen and Sabitri Dhami alongside Sony Pakhrin and Kusum Godar were run out. The four players jointly added only 20 runs.

Mahato could also not do enough as she was caught out in 5.2 overs before she could reach the double figures. 

As the outfield was still wet and the ball was getting stopped, Nepal expected to defend the paltry. Nevertheless, Bangladeshi top-order was enough to chase it with seven balls to spare.

The opening pair of Fahomida Choya and Mst Eva partnered until 7.2 overs and took the team to 46 runs by the time Eva (18 off 21) was bowled out by Godar. Choya (26 off 32) then had Mst Sumaiya Akther Suborna (10 off 6) as a support and they stayed not out to chase the target successfully and enter the final.

Puja was the second-highest run scorer in the tournament before the final. She has 81 runs and is behind India’s G. Trisha (107 runs). Likewise, Nepal’s Alisha Kumari Yadav had the best strike rate of the tournament: 186.67.