Hong Kong won the toss and elected to bat, at Guanggong Cricket Stadium, Guangzhou. Nepal restricted Hong Kong to 72/9 in the allotted 20 overs and met the target in 15.2 overs with seven wickets in hand, as Nary Thapa played a blistering innings of 28 off 25 balls.[break]
Nepal on Wednesday will take on Japan, to whom they lost the opening match by 10 wickets.
Nepal´s run chase faced an initial blow in the last ball of the first over as Connie Wong trapped Roshani Bohara lbw before she could open her account. Opener Rashmi Sharma and Sita Rana Magar were trying to take Nepal forward from the 2/1 position, but a beamer from Keenu Gill hit Rashmi Sharma on the right side of her helmet off a top-edge as she attempted a pull. Sharma was retired injured with nine runs in her personal account.
However, Nepali U-19 Captain Nary Thapa came to the crease without her helmet and started to punish the Hong Kong eves who bowled full tosses and down the leg side. Godiva Li bowled out Sita Rana (7 runs) in the first ball of the 11th over.
Nepali national team skipper Neera Rajopadhyay anchored the run chase as Nary Thapa hit some good shots. Thapa struck four boundaries before being out in bowling off Mariko Hill in the fifth ball of the 15th over. Rajopadhyay remained unbeaten for 12 runs off 15 balls alongside Sarita Magar with no score.
Earlier on Tuesday, Nepal were seen with improved bowling, batting and fielding compared to the match against Japan. Nepal´s good bowling and fielding made five Hong Kong batswomen return to the pavilion without opening their accounts and six of the Hong Kong batswomen were run out.
However, opener Connie Wong struck 47 off 55 balls and Yasmin Daswani scored 10 off 32 balls during their innings. At one point Hong Kong were 71/2 but lost another six wickets for one more run. Nary Thapa, Sarita Magar and Rubina Chhetri took a wicket each.
Nepali coach Janga Bahadur Thapa said that the victory looked like an easy one as Hong Kong had asked the Nepali team to field first. "We were planning to field first if we won the toss and Hong Kong gifted it to us. We had a plan to restrict Hong Kong below 80 runs and we succeed in that," said Thapa.
Meanwhile, Thapa credited the batting effort also for the victory. "Nary and Neera batted well and I had sent them up the order to lessened the pressure on batswomen down the order," said Thapa.
"We stuck to our initial plan and achieved success," added Captain Rajopadhyay.
Meanwhile, Nary Thapa said that the victory has boosted their morale to take on Japan on Wednesday. "We are back in our rhythm and we know Japan now. We were unaware about them in the first match but we now know how to take them on," she said.
Second Asiad victory in team game
Nepali women´s cricket team has added another feather in its hat Tuesday winning a match in the Asian Games. Nepal defeated Hong Kong by seven wickets to register the victory, a feat that has been quite difficult for Nepal to achieve in the Asian Games.
The victory in Guangzhou is the country´s second victory in any team game after twenty years. Coincidentally, the first victory was also gained on Chinese soil during the 11th edition of the games held in Beijing. Nepali Kabaddi team had then won a match against Japan during the 1990 Asiad for the first time in history.
Nepal had defeated Japan 24-17 during the match. Cricket has been included in the Asian Games for the first time from this edition.
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