Rubina Chhetri bowled a sensational last over setting up Nepal’s 2-1 victory in a bowl-out over Singapore after the scores tied in the ACC Women’s Twenty20 Championship at the Selangor Turf Club, Malayasia.
When the right-arm medium pacer from Biratnagar was asked to bowl the last over, in which Singapore needed two runs for victory with five wickets remaining, hardly anyone had expected a miracle. But Rubina pulled out miracle giving away a run and grabbing five wickets including a hat-trick – the first for Nepal.
She bowled a dot in the first ball, grabbed a wicket each in next three, bowled a wide that tied the score, and grabbed two more in last two balls.
In the bowl-out to decide the winner, Neera Rajopadhyay and Rekha Rawal hit the bull’s eye for Nepal’s victory.
Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first but it suffered the worst possible start losing four wickets for 10 runs in five overs – including Neera, Maya Rawat, Rashmi Sharma and Manisha Rawal.
Captain Ritu Kanaujiya and Neetu Thapa showed some patience. Ritu got 18 off 17 balls with four boundaries while Neetu scored 11 off 21 with a four.
Sarita Magar was the top-scorer for Nepal scoring 20 off 22 balls with three fours while Ambika Budhathoki contributed 10 runs to help Nepal reach 79/9 in 20 overs.
Nepal was mainly undone by poor running between the wickets as five batswomen fell victims to run-out. Annapurna Mukherjee took two wickets for Singapore while Diviya GK and Lakhmi Hariharsan each grabbed a wicket.
Singapore took lost two wickets for 10 runs in 5 overs and it was 38/4 in 12th over. But a very good partnership between Catherine Tyler (19 off 32) and Chamitri Vidyaratne (16 off 26) took them to 74/4 before Rekha grabbed Vidyaratne leg-before.
Rajeshwari Pasupathy hit a four off next ball as Singapore inched closer before Rubina pulled a miracle in her only second international match. Rubina debuted on Friday against Iran but she did neither bat nor bowl.
Nepal now meets Qatar at Kinrara Oval on Sunday. Qatar has so far lost both its matches – against Bhutan by 45 runs and against Thailand by 50 runs.
Brief scorecard: Nepal 79/9 in 20 overs (Sariata Magar 20*, Ritu Kanaujiya 18, Neetu Thapa 11, Ambika Budhathoki 10, Annapurna Mukherjee 2/) tied Singapore 79 all out in 20 overs (Catherine Tyler 19, Chamitri Vidyaratne 16, Annapurna Mukherjee 16, Rubina Chhetri 5/12). Nepal wins 2-1 in the bowl-out. Woman of the Match: Rubina Chhetri