Nepal’s women’s cricket team are set to begin their campaign to enter their first T20 World Cup on Friday. They are facing Hong Kong in their first game of the 2025 Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier on May 9.

The qualifier features nine teams divided into three groups of three each. Nepal are in Group C with Hong Kong and Bahrain.

The three teams will face each other in a double round-robin format in the group stage. The top team from each group will then progress to the Super Three to compete in a single round-robin structure; the final top two teams will then enter the Global Qualifier.

Previously, in the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier, Nepal had lost to Thailand in the semi-final and missed the chance to enter the Global Qualifier.

However, Nepal aim to improve their performance this time and debut on the biggest T20I platform.

Preparation in India

The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN), on April 25, revealed a 14-member squad to travel to Thailand for the Asian Qualifier. Indu Barma is continuing as the skipper while teenager Puja Mahato has been appointed vice-captain for the tournament.

As a part of preparation, the women’s team was in India for over a week before travelling to Thailand. Led by head coach Manoj Katwal, the women’s team played three games with Delhi Women and two more with RP Cricket Academy.

The girls did not win a single game against Delhi but got a consolation win over RPCA. Nepal had lost to RPCA by 32 runs in the first game on May 4 but bounced back on May 6 to win by four runs.

The Nepali national team lost against Delhi on April 28, April 29 and May 1, going down by 38 runs, 11 runs and five wickets, respectively.

CAN officials have remained optimistic with the women’s team. The addition of a fitness trainer, from India, for over a month, has also improved the fitness of players, CAN informed.

Group opponents

Nepal will face Hong Kong on May 9 and 13 and Bahrain on May 10 and 15 in the group stage. The first fixture between Nepal and Bahrain will be hosted by Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok, but all other Group C games will be played at Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok.

It is not the first time that Nepal will face Hong Kong and Bahrain in T20Is. Nepal and Hong Kong have met nine times in the past, with Nepal winning in five of those instances.

Meanwhile, Nepal have won both the games they have played against Bahrain so far.