Barma, Khadka ably help Nepal register maiden win

Dambulla: Captain Indu Barma picked a superb three-fer, while Samjhana Khadka slammed an unbeaten 72 to help Nepal register their maiden win in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup with a six-wicket victory over UAE at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Indu’s 3-19, along with a wicket each taken by Sabnam Rai, Kabita Joshi and Kritika Marasini helped Nepal restrict a more-fancied UAE to 115/8 in 20 overs.

In reply, opening in T20Is for the first time, Samjhana smashed 72 not out off 45 balls and carried her bat throughout the chase to hit 11 boundaries at a strike rate of 160 to hunt down the total with 23 balls to spare. Pushed into batting first, UAE were in early trouble in the Power-play as captain Esha Oza was run out, while Theertha Sathish and Rinitha Rajith fell cheaply for the side to be three-down in the Power play.

In the face of accurate bowling from Nepal, Khushi Sharma top-scored with 36, while Colombo-born Kavisha Egodage chipped in with 22 to rebuild UAE’s innings. But Nepal bounced back at the back end to ensure UAE didn’t run away to post a big total.

Brief scores

UAE Women: 115/8 in 20 overs (Khushi Sharma 36, Kavisha Egodage 22; Indu Barma 3/19) lost to Nepal: 118/4 in 16.1 overs (Samjhana Khadka 72 not out; Kavisha Egodage 3/12) by six wickets.