At least the conclusion of the ACC Women’s Twenty20 Championship was satisfactory as Nepal defeated China by 73 runs to secure the third-position at the Kinrara Oval, Malaysia.
After scoring 103/5 off 20 overs, former captain Nary Thapa grabbed four wickets to bowl out the giant neighbors for 30 runs in 10.2 overs.
And, it was a happy ending for Nary. She won the man of the match award as well as the best bowler of the tournament.
At Kinrara, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first. Coming off two losses, against the two eventual finalists – Thailand and Hong Kong, Nepal had to come good in the match to save its pride; and the openers created the platform.
Neera Rajopadhyay went on hitting early on. She scored 15 off 17 balls with three fours and when she was undone by Yang Yu Xuan while Maya Rawat played patiently for her 17 off 43 balls.
Captain Ritu Kanaujiya scored 15 off 22 while Nary (7), Rekha Rawal (8*) and Sonu Khadka (7*) contributed. The biggest contributor to Nepal’s total was, however, the Chinese themselves who gave away 30 extra runs including 25 wides.
Chinese reply was disarrayed early. Rekha took a wicket each with first ball in her first two overs making it 6/2 leaving Nary to do the remaining work.
Nary bowled her four overs, gave away 10 runs – four were wides and grabbed four wickets. Ambika Budhathoki, Sonu and Rubina Chhetri each took a wicket to end China’s innings early.
China, with 12 extras, made 30 runs with four batswomen getting one each and four others failed to open account.
Nary wins the Best Bowler
For Nary, who was denied captaincy following disciplinary issues, the Best Bowler Award was a soothing one.
She was suspected for chucking in ACC U-19 where she led the team to the championship title and did not bowl in first two games of the event. She did not play against Singapore.
Then in last four matches, she bowled full quota of 16 overs giving away 34 runs and grabbed 7 wickets at an average of 2.42. She did not give away more than 10 runs in any match.
Nary’s bowling performances were: 5/5 vs Bhutan, 3/9 vs Thailand, 2/10 vs Hong Kong and 4/10 against China.
Hong Kong wins the title
Hong Kong beat Thailand to win the ACC Women’s Twenty20 Championship. Hong Kong scored 106/4 and restricted Thailand for 102/4 to register a thrilling four-run victory.