Recovering from the Singaporean shock, Nepal bounced back to form to defeat Qatar by 8 wickets at the Kinrara Oval, Malaysia for the third straight win in the ACC Women’s Twenty20 Championship.
Sonu Khadka bowled a splendid spell of 3/5 to help Nepal bowl out Qatar for 43 runs in 17.2 overs. The target was chased down in 9.1 overs for a eight-wicket win.
Qatar elected to bat first and Nepali captain Ritu Kanaujiya, bowling the opening over, gave Nepal an early breakthrough bowling out Huda Malik. It came as a relief for her as she struggled with line giving two wides before the wicket.
Rekha Rawal, sharing the new ball with Ritu, caused more damage as Ishaani Mittal was caught by Nary Thapa. It was then the Qatari downfall that did not stop until the end. Although tailenders tried to occupy crease for long, they could not score much as Qatar’s most runs came off extras (12) and topscorer was Nahan Arif (9).
Sonu Khadka bowled four overs, including two maidens, for three wickets, while Rekha, returned with 3/5 in 2.2 overs. Rubina Chhetri, after a sensational five wickets against Singapore, was on for her second hat-trick but could not complete it, took a wicket.
In reply, Neera Rajopadhyay and Maya Rawat started well adding 34 runs for opening partnership before Maya (9 off 16, with a four) was run-out.
Neera stayed till Nepal reached 40, but gave a return catch to Mittal at 18. She played 32 balls and hit a four. Former captain Nary Thapa (6 not out off 5 balls with a four) and Ritu (unbeaten 0) completed the proceedings with more than half-the-match remaining.
Nepal now meets Bhutan after a day’s rest.
Brief scorecard: Qatar 43 all out in 17.2 overs (Nahan Arif 9, Sonu Khadka 3/5, Rekha Rawal 3/5) lost to Nepal 44/2 in 9.1 overs (Neera Rajopahdya 18, Maya Rawat 9, Nary Thapa 6*) by eight wickets. Player of the Match: Sonu Khadka