Nepal Women’s Cricket Team Wins First Match in Women’s Asia Cup 2024
The Nepal Women’s Cricket Team celebrated a historic victory by defeating the UAE Women by six wickets in the opening match of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024, held at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.
Key Performances
Opener Samjhana Khadka shone brightly with an unbeaten 72 runs. Despite not having opened in her previous 16 T20Is, Khadka was promoted to the top order and did not disappoint. She became the first Nepali batter to score 50 in the Women’s Asia Cup, reaching the milestone in just 35 balls.
Captain Indu Barma also played a crucial role, taking three wickets for 19 runs in her four-over spell. Other notable bowlers included Sabnam Rai, Kabita Joshi, and Kritika Marasini, each taking one wicket.
Match Highlights
After choosing to bowl first, Nepal’s seamers Kabita Kunwar and Sabnam Rai restricted UAE to 115 for 8. Khadka’s aggressive batting and smart running between the wickets helped Nepal chase down the target, finishing at 118 for 4.
Historic Win
This victory is significant as it marks Nepal’s first-ever win in the Women’s Asia Cup. Nepal had previously participated in eight matches between 2012 and 2016 without a win. A last-minute rule change in March 2024 allowed them to compete in this edition, making their victory even more special.
Brief Score
| Team | Score |
|---|---|
| Nepal | 118 for 4 (Khadka 72*, Egodage 3-12) |
| UAE | 115 for 8 (Khushi 36, Egodage 22, Barma 3-19) |
Doubts Revealed
Nepal Women’s Cricket Team -: This is the national team of women cricketers from Nepal, a country in South Asia.
Women’s Asia Cup 2024 -: This is a cricket tournament where women’s teams from different Asian countries compete against each other.
UAE Women -: This refers to the women’s cricket team from the United Arab Emirates, a country in the Middle East.
six wickets -: In cricket, winning by six wickets means the winning team had six players who did not get out when they reached the target score.
Opener -: An opener is a player who bats at the beginning of the innings.
Samjhana Khadka -: She is a player on the Nepal Women’s Cricket Team who scored 72 runs without getting out.
unbeaten 72 -: This means Samjhana Khadka scored 72 runs and was not out by the end of the game.
captain -: The captain is the leader of the cricket team who makes important decisions during the game.
Indu Barma -: She is the captain of the Nepal Women’s Cricket Team and took three wickets in the match.
three wickets -: In cricket, taking three wickets means getting three players from the opposing team out.
last-minute rule change -: This means a new rule was added or changed just before the tournament started, allowing Nepal to compete.
chased down -: In cricket, chasing down means scoring the required runs to win the match.
115 runs -: This is the total number of runs scored by the UAE Women’s team.
118 for 4 -: This means Nepal scored 118 runs and lost 4 players (wickets) in the process.