Indu Barma has been associated with Nepali cricket since 2010, after she represented the country in the defence of the ACC U19 Women’s Championship title in Singapore. But despite starting early, her numbers got recorded in international cricket only after Nepal and all ICC members were granted full WT20I status in July 2018.

Barma’s first international T20I match for Nepal, therefore, came almost a decade later—in Thailand Women’s T20 Smash tournament, where they faced China on January 12, 2019. She neither got the chance to bat nor bowl in the match against China, which Nepal won by 10 wickets while chasing 49 runs.

However, by the end of the tournament, Barma was Nepal’s second-highest run scorer. She followed Sita Rana Magar, who had 138 runs in five of the six matches she batted, with 53 runs in four of the six matches she got to swing the bat.

Since then, Barma has gone on to become the second-most capped Nepali woman cricketer. Before the five-match series between Nepal and Malaysia kicked off on October 2, Barma had represented Nepal across 73 T20Is since 2019.

And on Tuesday, after the conclusion of the fourth match of the friendly series, Barma not only took her total caps to 77, but became Nepal’s first woman cricketer to cross the 1,000-run mark.

Barma, who has been the captain of the national side since November 2023, entered the Bayuemas Oval for the fourth match of the series at 985 runs in 76 matches. And when Barma, who was at 14 off 16, guided the 17th ball she faced in her 77th T20I on Tuesday for a four towards the fine leg, she made history.

Overall, Barma stayed not out at 48 off 39, two runs shy of her second WT20I fifty, with her long-time pal Rubina Chhetry (23 off 23) to successfully chase the target of 112 runs, level the series 2-2 and take the event to the rubber. Chhetry is Nepal’s most capped player, having played 78 matches, only one more than Barma.

Malaysia: Barma’s favourite opponent

The fourth match of the series was Barma’s 15th match against Malaysia since 2019. And the score of 48 off 39 on Tuesday was her highest. Barma’s previous highest against Malaysia was 32 off 31, which she scored in Bangi on June 3, 2023; it was the seventh time Barma was playing against Malaysia.

Nepal’s most matches in T20Is have come against Malaysia. The two have faced each other 15 times, including the fixture on Tuesday. And Barma has played in all of those.

Barma has batted in 14 of those 15 matches, scoring 238 runs against Malaysia so far. Tuesday’s win was Nepal’s ninth against Malaysia, having lost six, of which two came in the ongoing series.

Meanwhile, Barma’s second-favourite team has been Hong Kong. She has played against Hong Kong in all 10 matches with Nepal since 2019, and she has scored 162 runs, having batted in all of them.

Overall, Barma has played against 19 different teams in WT20Is since 2019. She has been scoreless against only two of them—Pakistan and the Maldives. Barma has hit 77 fours and 3 sixes in 1,234 balls she has faced so far in WT20Is.

Likewise, Barma has also been crucial for the team with the ball. A right-arm medium pacer, Barma has 40 wickets to her name in 46 innings she has bowled; she also has 29 catches.

After Barma, there are only two Nepali players who are close to reaching the 1,000-run mark. Sita Rana Magar and Rubina Chhetry have 965 runs and 936 runs in 63 and 78 matches, respectively.

Magar, who could become the Nepali player to reach the milestone in the lowest number of matches, has not been included in the Playing XI in the last two matches. Likewise, Chhetry, the only Nepali woman cricketer to have a century in WT20Is, is also looking forward to reaching the four-digit mark.

Nepal will play Malaysia in the series decider today (Wednesday) with the match kicking off at 7:45am Nepali time.