KATHMANDU, Jan 28: With a cent percent winning result, Nepal advanced to the semifinals of ACC Women´s Championship as Group A winner, defeating Hong Kong by six wicket in their last group stage match, in Thailand on Monday.
Winning the toss and inviting Hong Kong to bat first at Prem Oval, Nepal bowled out the opponent team for just 54 runs in 21.4 overs. Sarita Magar picked four key wickets, conceding just 13 runs in her 5 overs, to restrict the losing side to a small total. [break]
Sarita was ably supported by Nary Thapa, who took three wickets before returning with an impressive figures of 5-2-14-3. Karuna Bhandari polished off the Hong Kong tail striking thrice. Karuna bowled just 10 balls and conceded only 2 runs.
Hong Kong started its innings on a promising note, with an opening stand of 23 runs. Openers Yip Sze Wan and Chan Ka Ying scored 14 and 12 runs respectively. Yip Sze struck a four in her 44-ball knock.
However, once the partnership was broken, Hong Kong lost its way and wickets started tumbling one after another , with none of other players being able to score in double figures. Five of the Hong Kong players were duck out.
Nepal had a shaky run chase losing both its openers Madhu Thapa and Sita Magar for duck. Madhu, who faced 5 balls was cleaned bowled by Mariko Hill in the first over, while Sita departed to the pavilion after being run out in second over.
Number three Roshani Bohara (1 off 8 balls) followed suit being caught by Yip Sze Wan off an Ishitaa Gidwani delivery, leaving the team precariously placed at 6/3 in 3.1 overs.
However, Sarita Magar and Nary Thapa rescued the team, sharing a 33 run stand for fourth wicket. In so doing, Sarita hit 14 off 43 balls including two boundaries, while Nary went on to top score for the team with a solid 23 off 35 balls with help of three hits to the fence.
Sarita finally fell to Tam Shun, but then Nary with skipper Rubina Chhetri (7 off 14 balls) cruised the team home without further hiccups, with seven overs still left in Nepali innings.
Nepal will now face the runner up of Group B in the semifinals on Wednesday. Nepal defeated Bhutan by eight wickets in its opening match on Thursday, the UAE by 86 runs on Friday and Malaysia by seven wickets on Sunday.
The winner of the championship will qualify for the ICC Women´s World T20 Qualifiers to be held in Ireland in August.
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