Nepal elected to field in the match reduced to 19 overs a side. Nepal restricted Hong Kong at 32/9 and successfully chased the low target in 7.3 overs losing two wickets.

Nary Thapa bowled four overs including three maiden overs and gave away just one run to claim three wickets as the chief exponent of Nepali bowling. Skipper Rubina Chhetri dismissed two Hong Kong batters while Sonu Khadka and Karuna Bhandari claimed a wicket each.

Yip Sze Wan (12 runs off 33 balls) was the highest scorer for Hong Kong. Ten extras bowled by Nepali bowlers helped Hong Kong to reach the meager total.

Nepali openers Sobha Aale (eight runs off 12 balls) and Sita Magar put up a 24-run stand. Sita Magar garnered 10 runs off 23 balls including two boundaries. Tam Shun dismissed both, Aale and Magar. Indu Barma (four runs) and Sarita Magar (one run) remain unbeaten to seal Nepal’s victory. Hong Kong bowled 10 extras to make the win easier.

Nepali bowler Nary Thapa was adjudged player-of-the-match.

Nepal had lost to Thailand by seven wickets in the semifinal on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Thailand won the title of the championship beating tournament favorite China by 17 runs. Thailand put up 95/6 in allotted 25 overs and bundled out China for 78 runs in 24.4 overs.

With the win, Thailand progressed to play Women’s World T20 Qualifiers to be held in Ireland in August.

Thailand pulled off an emphatic seven-wicket victory after skittling Nepal out for a paltry 38 runs. Chanida Sutthiruang’s magical bowling exposed the weaknesses of Nepali batswomen as she claimed five wickets. Player-of-the-match Sutthiruang bowled five overs including three maiden overs and gave away only two runs. Two Nepali batswomen were run out while Nattakan Chantham, Nattaya Boochatham and Rattana Sangsoma took a wicket each to bundle out Nepal.

Sita Magar (7 runs off 19 balls) and Karuna Bhandari (4 runs off 12 balls) were the highest scorers for Nepal. None of the Nepali batswomen was able to anchor the innings. The eight-run partnership between Nary Thapa (1 run) and Sita Magar for the fourth wicket was the highest of the innings.

Nepal’s total of 38 runs included 11 extras.

It was the Nepali women’s team’s lowest ever total. Nepal’s earlier lowest total was 45 runs against Bangladesh during the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2012.

Nepal was restricted to 26/8 in the final of ACC Women’s Tournament 2007 against Bangladesh but it is not counted as the lowest total as Nepal was not all out and the 30-over match was reduced to 18 overs due to rain.

Thailand easily chased the target in 12 overs losing three wickets. Pundarika Prathanmitr scored unbeaten 18 runs off 46 balls. Nepali captain Rubina Chhetri claimed two wickets and Sita Magar was involved in a runout but Sirintra Saengsakaorat (unbeaten five runs) supported Prathanmitr to seal a seven-wicket victory for Thailand.

The defeat has also ended Nepal’s dream of playing in the Women’s World T20. Only the winner of the ongoing tournament will qualify for the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifiers.

China thrashed Hong Kong by 86 runs in the other semifinal held on Wednesday. China put up 158/2 in 25 overs as Zhang Mei scored an unbeaten 85 runs. China then bowled out Hong Kong for 72 runs in 24.1 overs.

Thailand will take on China in the final on Thursday while Nepal will lock horns with Hong Kong in the third place play-off.

The win helped Nepal to finish on the top of the pool A above Hong Kong. Nepal will take on pool B runner-up Thailand in the semifinal on Wednesday while pool B winner China will take on Hong Kong.

Nepal elected to field and bundled out Hong Kong for 54 runs in 21.4 overs as player-of-the-match Thapa claimed three wickets. Thapa, then, came up to rescue Nepal from a situation of 6/3 in the run chase scoring unbeaten 23 runs off 35 balls and guided Nepal to 55/4 in 18 overs.

Nepali captain Rubina Chhetri bowls against Hong Kong. (Photo Courtesy: ACC)

Hong Kong openers Yip Sze Wan (14 runs off 44 balls) and Chan Ka Ying (12 runs off 23 balls) put up a 23-run partnership, the highest of the innings. However, Hong Kong collapsed after the fall of Ying as none of the batters could reach double-digit scores.

Sarita Magar was the pick of the Nepali bowlers as she claimed four wickets in the middle while Karuna Bhandari dismissed three tail-enders.

Nepal’s run chase also suffered nervous start as openers Madhu Thapa and Sita Magar without scoring a run. Mariko Hill bowled out Thapa while Magar was short to the crease. Nepal was in trouble as Yip Sze Wan caught Roshani Bohara (one run) off Ishitaa Gidwani’s bowling as Nepal reached 6/3 in 3.1 overs.

Karuna Bhandari bowls against Hong Kong. (Photo Courtesy: ACC)

However, Sarita Magar and Nary Thapa anchored Nepali innings putting up a 33-run fourth wicket partnership. Magar scored 14 runs off 43 balls before Tam Shun bowled her out in the fifth ball of the fifteenth over. Thapa remained unbeaten with 23 runs off 35 balls including three boundaries. Nepali captain Rubina Chhetry was also not out with seven runs off 14 balls putting up an unbeaten 16-run partnership with Thapa.

Nary Thapa receives player-of-the-match trophy.
(Photo Courtesy: ACC)

Meanwhile, China beat Thailand by 47 runs to top the pool B. China put up 118 runs in 25 overs losing all wickets and bundled out Thailand for 71 runs in 19 overs.

The final of the tournament will be played on Thursday. The winner of the tournament will progress to Women’s World T20 Qualifiers to be held in Ireland in August.

Nepal defeated Malaysia by seven wickets at Royal Chiang Mai, Thailand while Hong Kong pulled off a thrilling 16-run victory over Bhutan to advance into the semifinals from Pool A of the tournament.

Nepal and Hong Kong both have remained unbeaten in the group stage and collected six points each from three matches. However, Nepal currently leads the points table on the basis of superior net run rate. Bhutan has two points from three matches in the pool that includes five teams.

China and Thailand have qualified for the semifinals from Pool B with four consecutive wins each. The top two teams of both the pools will play each other on Monday to decide the group winners and their semifinal opponents. The semifinals are scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

Player-of-the-match Sarita Magar came up with an all-round performance against Malaysia to seal an easy victory for Nepal.

Malaysia elected to bat but could make only 65/8 in the allotted 25 overs as Magar and Nepali captain Rubina Chhetri dismissed two batswomen each. Magar was involved in a runout too. Meanwhile, Karuna Bhandari and Neera Rajopadhyaya claimed a wicket each to restrict Malaysia to a low score.

Malaysia opener Emylia Rahim was the top scorer of the innings with 21 runs off 60 balls. Rahim put up a 21-run partnership with Arina Rahim (6 runs) for the third wicket and a 24-run stand with Hasliza Hamzah (6 runs) for the seventh wicket. Rewina Mohammad scored 8 runs for Malaysia.

In reply, Nepal met the target in 11.3 overs losing three wickets. Openers Madhu Thapa (16 runs off 19 balls) and Sita Magar put up a 30-run partnership for the first wicket. Thapa was dismissed by Winfred Duraisingam in the fourth ball of the fifth over. Nepal lost Roshani Bohara (1 run) in the next over off Nur Syazwina but Sarita Magar joined Sita Magar on the crease and they put up a 12-run partnership for the third wicket. Sita was dismissed by Jannadiah Halim in the fourth ball off the 10th over after scoring 10 runs off 27 balls.

Sarita (9 runs off 14 balls) and Nary Thapa (10 runs off five balls) then guided Nepal to victory with an unbeaten 20-run partnership.

In the other match, Hong Kong recovered from a shaky 18/6 against Bhutan at the Prem Oval to reach 105 for 7. Hong Kong then restricted the opposition to 89/8 to register a 16-run victory.

It is the second meeting between the two national sides in women’s cricket. Nepal had met Bhutan in the ACC Women’s T20 Championship in 2009 and won the match by eight wickets. Nepal had bowled Bhutan for 31 runs in 15.5 overs and met the target in 8.4 overs losing two wickets.

Nepali and Bhutanese woman cricketers have clashed twice in the agegroup tournaments. Nepali U-19 girls had defeated Bhutan by six wickets in the final of the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship in 2010 and had pulled three-wicket victory in the semifinal of the 2012 edition of the same tournament. Captain Rubina Chhetri, Sonu Khadka, Silu Rijal and Indu Verma were the part of the U-19 team that clinched the ACC title for the consecutive third time in 2012.

As the tournament is the first step to reach the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Nepali team is aiming to win the title. The winner of the ACC Women’s Championship will qualify to play ICC World T20 World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Ireland in August.

Bhutan thrashed Malaysia by 32 runs as the ACC Women’s Championship kicked off in Thailand on Wednesday. Bhutan put up 133/4 in allotted 25 overs and restricted Malaysia to 101/6 at the end.

As Afghanistan pulled out of the tournament, Nepal enjoyed a day off in the opening day of the tournament.

Likewise, Hong Kong beat the UAE by four wickets on Wednesday while Thailand thrashed Qatar by 10 wickets. Meanwhile, China pulled a huge 167-run victory over Iran and Kuwait defeated Singapore by nine wickets in the opening day of the tournament.

Though Nepal had finished runner-up in the first edition of the championship when the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) introduced it in 2007, Nepal had to settle for the third and fourth position in the second and third editions respectively.

Though Nepal had finished the first edition of the championship as runner-up when the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) introduced the tournament in 2007, Nepal had to satisfy with the third and the fourth position in the second and third edition respectively.

Nepali women’s national cricket team poses for photo in Kathmandu on Sunday

“We used to train for a week or two in the past. We conducted closed camp training for almost five weeks this time. We are well prepared,” said Coach Jamil Ansari at the farewell program organized by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) in the capital on Sunday.

National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama, CAN Vice President Keshav Ghimire, General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal bade farewell to the team led by Captain Rubina Chhetri.

“There is high expectation of fans and nation with you but don’t feel pressurized,” said Lama addressing the woman cricketers at his office. “Give your best performance, give 100 percent on the field,” he suggested further.

Captain Chhetri and Coach Ansari, both, vowed not to return empty handed from Thailand. “After witnessing the confidence of these girls, I’m confident enough that we will not return home with empty hand,” said Coach Ansari.

“During the closed camp training, we not only attended practice sessions but also attended theoretical and motivational classes. We have confidence, we will obviously win this time,” said Captain Chhetri.

Coach Ansari said that following the batting debacle in the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup, his team focused on batting in the closed-camp training.

Nepal was all out for 58 runs while chasing a 79-run target against Sri Lanka in the first match of the T20 Asia Cup held in China in October. Likewise, Bangladesh had bowled Nepal out for 45 runs and to add to Nepal’s woes, associate cricket nation China had also bundled Nepal out for a paltry total of 47.
“We have prepared the team and addressed the mistakes we committed in China,” said Ansari.

“We have a balanced team. Since we have focused more on batting this time I hope batting will not be our problem but could be a strength this time along with our usual bowling strength,” said Chhetri, speaking with media after the farewell program.

Nepal is slated on the group A of the tournament to be held in Thailand from January 23 to 31. Nepal will take on Bhutan in its first match on Thursday while lock horns with UAE on Friday in the second group stage match. Likewise, Nepal will clash with Malaysia on January 27 and against Hong Kong on January 28.

“Since we are expecting of winning title, we have to take on every opponent seriously. None of the opponents could be considered lightly,” said Ansari, when asked about the tough opponents in the tournament.

ACC Women’s Championship, a 25-over tournament, is the first step toward Women’s World T20 qualification. The winner of the championship will qualify the Women’s World T20 Qualifiers to be held in Ireland in August.

Cricket has been included in the festival called 6^th National Games and teams from all the development regions are participating. But women’s team of Western Region is special, for it has 7 players coming from the same school.

And the school’s name is Apex School from Shankarnagar VDC, in Rupandehi district.

Indu Verma

Pratikshya Bashyal

The team captain, Indu Verma is a Class 8 student, while her teammate Pratikshya Basyal is in Class 9 at the same school. Both the girls were part of the U-19 Nepali team that won ACC U-19 Women’s cricket championship. Likewise, Alisha KC, Prabina Khadka, Sonia Paudel are batch mates in Class 8 in the same school and part of the Western Region team. Their teammate Nitu Bhandari is in Class 9 and another teammate Sudha Thapa is in Class 11.

Alisha Kc

All these players are considered capable of being in the first XI of the team. Their alma mater, Apex School has suddenly become a subject of discussion, having contributing as many as 7 players to a regional team. And it’s been only two years that the school started providing cricket facilities. Needless to say, the school’s girls team is the regional champion and provides almost entire squad to the Bhairahawa team that plays national championship.  All the members of the group of lucky 7 live around Shankarnagar VDC.

Pravina Khadka

Nitu Bhandari

Cricket became really popular in the school once they appointed former Nepali international Basanta Shahi as its cricket coach. And it’s the girls who outshone boys as far as cricket is considered. Shahi said that the girls have really worked hard over past couple of years.

Soniya Poudel

Sudha Thapa

School coordinator Roshan Pokhrel said that the parents of girl students are now happy. Earlier, they were against the idea of teaching cricket to girls. Whatever be the result of Western Region team in the nationals may go to records, but this school has already made a name for becoming a cricketer factory in the area.

Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hridayesh Tripathi informed reporters about the decision after Thursday’s meeting of Council of Ministers.

Nepali U-19 Women’s team had lifted the title of the championship on Friday after defeating Thailand by six wickets in the final held in Kuwait.

“It is a huge honor for me and all of my teammates as we all are from middle-class family,” said Nepali Captain Rubina Chhetri. “This award recognizes our achievement and inspires financially deprived players to seek crecketing career,” she added.

The cash incentive will be given to all the 14 members of tehe team and to coach Nabin Singh.

Nepal Government had awarded all the members of then U-19 Women’s team with Rs 100,000 in 2010, when they had won the title of the second edition of championship.

The CAN awarded Rs 20,000 each to all the 14 players, a coach and two managers on Sunday amidst a function in the capital. Minister for Youth and Sports Kamala Roka, secretary at the ministry Sushil Ghimire and National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama handed over the prizes to the team members.

Meanwhile, Wai-Wai, the instant noodles product of Chaudhary Group and the sponsor of the team, awarded Rs 51,000 to the winning team in the same function.  CG Foods General Manager Sajjan Devkota handed over the check to the team Captain Rubina Chhetri and Manager Keshav Ghimire.

Speaking at the function, Minister Roka said that the government would continue the tradition of rewarding cricketers this time also. Though Roka didn’t disclose the cash amount, she confirmed that it would not be less than previous occasion.

Nepal Government had rewarded a cash prize of Rs 100,000 to each member of the U-19 women’s team, which had won the ACC U-19 Women’s Championship in 2010. “We’ll not violate the tradition of rewarding players,” said Minister Roka.

Minister Roka said that every other sports association should also think about encouraging women’s in their respective sports.

NSC Member Secretary Lama said that the result of ACC U-19 Women’s Championship has once again established the scope of cricket in the country. He urged that the CAN and other sports associations should encourage women not only for playing but also to take official responsibilities.

The CAN President Tanka Aangbuhang said that the hat-trick title victory is an appropriate answer from little girls to the patriarchal society of Nepal. Aangbuhang asked the government to reward Rs 200,000 to each member of the winning team and handed over request letter to Minister Roka and NSC Member Secretary Lama.

Representative of sponsor CG Foods, Lalbabu Prasad, applauded the U-19 women’s team and gave his best wishes to maintain the winning streak in future.

Speaking on the function, team captain Rubina Chhetri said that her team was under pressure as they had to defend the title. “We had only three experienced players and we were there to defend the title. We were under pressure but every time we came out of it as our coach Nabin Singh used to come up with good and perfect strategies,” said Chhetri.

Players ask for scholarship

At the end of the function, player Sonu Khadka, speaking on behalf of all her teammates asked sports authorities and the CAN officials to provide them scholarship to pursue school and higher education.

“We have to take leave from our school to participate in cricket tournaments. Meanwhile, our parents urge us to concentrate on study. We all are not from well-to-do families,” said Khadka. “If you people can manage us scholarship on sports-friendly schools and colleges, it will at least console our parents,” she added.

Replying to Khadka, the CAN General Secretary Ashok Nath Pyakuryal said that players raised the issue in a proper forum, where all the concerned sports authorities were present. “From our (the CAN) side, we’ll try to address your request,” said Pyakuryal.

Nepal is the only team to remain undefeated in all three editions of the tournament taking its winning streak to 19 matches in the ACC tournament.

Winning the toss Nepal invited Thailand to bat first on Friday and restricted them in just 74 runs off 22.4 overs. Nepal crossed the target after the completion of the 21st over with the loss of four wickets.

Player-of-the-match Nepali skipper Rubina Chhetri grabbed three wickets in her 4.4 overs conceding only seven runs. Sangeeta Gauchan grabbed two wickets in her five over spell conceding 16 runs.

Thailand skipper Nattakan Chantam, who was dominating Nepali, was back to the pavilion in the 12th over in spinner Gauchan’s bowling. Chantam scored 22 runs and also shared a-24 runs partnership for the third wicket with Phira-on Khamla.

Chasing the total of 75 runs, Nepal did not start well. Nepal lost its both openers — Anuradha Chaudhary and Droupati Kunwar — on ducks by the second over of the innings. Indu Barma and Kavita Gautam shared a-17 runs partnership for the third wicket. Gautam was out scoring three runs while Barma (6 runs) was caught behind in Phira-on Khamla bowling. Nepal had scored 19 runs in seven overs losing four wickets.

Skipper Chhetri and Mamata Chaudhary shared a 56-run partnership for the fifth wicket. They faced 89 balls to set the partnership. Chhetri was not out with 24 runs off 45 balls with two boundaries while Chaudhary remained unbeaten on 21 runs off 43 balls with a boundary.

Chhetri also received player-of-the-tournament award for her all-round performance in the championship.  Chhetri took 13 wickets and scored 71 runs playing all the six matches that Nepal had played in the tournament.