The toss was not in Nepal’s favour in the five-match series against Malaysia, which started on October 2. The visitors only won the toss once, in the second match on October 4, and elected to bowl first, while the hosts kept on deciding to bat first.

The misfortune in the toss, however, did not affect Nepal as they went on to win the series, defeating Malaysia by five wickets in the rubber on Wednesday.

Malaysia could only add three runs in the final over, bowled by Kabita Kunwar, who sent three Malaysian batters back to the pavilion in the last six deliveries, and take the total to 103/7.

Wicketless in the first three overs she bowled, Kunwar turned the tide in the 20th over, which was her last and fourth over. Rajmati Airee also bagged three wickets in three overs and gave only 15 runs. Rachana Chaudhary also had one wicket to her name as she bowled out opener Ainna Hamizah Hashim (15 off 19).

Malaysian skipper Winifred Duraisingam was the highest scorer for the home side as she added 40 off 46.

On the batting front, Nepal benefitted by collective efforts rather than individual brilliance that propelled them to the series win.

Malaysia had a good start to the series by winning the first match by three runs, but Nepal equalised by registering a six-wicket win in the second.

The third match saw a comeback from Malaysia as they defended the target of 121 runs by restricting Nepal to 107/8. Meanwhile, the fourth match saw Nepal successfully chasing the target of 112 runs with skipper Indu Barma’s not-out inning of 48 off 39; the knock helped Barma become Nepal’s first women cricketer to cross the 1,000-run mark in T20Is. The win in the fourth match for Nepal required the home side to test their might in the last game and take revenge for the 3-2 series loss in 2023, but Nepal handed the same fate to them again.

Individual achievements

Malaysian opener Hashim, with 15 off 19 on Wednesday, took her individual score in the series to 152 runs in five games and became the highest run getter of the series. She had two half-centuries in the tournament with a highest score of 61.

There was only one other half-century in the series, which was also scored by a Malaysian batter—Mas Elysa played a not-out knock of 56 off 63 in the fourth match on Tuesday. Barma was close to 50 in the same match, but she fell short of two runs; it would have been Barma’s second 50 in T20Is.

However, Barma bested Elysa in the total runs scored in the series. Elysa had 112 runs throughout the event, and Barma had 117. Barma was the second-most run scorer, with Elysa third in the list.

Youngster Puja Mahato, who is also the vice captain of the Nepali side, was the only other batter to cross the 100-run mark in the series. She had 101 runs in five matches with a highest score of 39.

On the other hand, Kunwar finished the series as the highest wicket-taker. Kunwar, with three wickets in the final match, had nine wickets to her name in four matches. Malaysia’s Nur Dania Syuhada, who played in all five matches, followed Kunwar with seven wickets.

The duo was followed by three players—Nepal’s Somu Bist and Malaysia’s Aisya Eleesa and Hashim—with four wickets each in five matches.