Sports
Nepal outplayed by Pak
A listless Nepal went down crashing to Pakistan by nine wickets in their opening match of the ACC Women’s Asia Cup at the Terdthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday.A listless Nepal went down crashing to Pakistan by nine wickets in their opening match of the ACC Women’s Asia Cup at the Terdthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday.
The excitement of playing the Test giants in their first ever official meeting took no time to fizzle out after Nepal innings was shut down for just 47 runs in 18.1 overs. The two-time Asian Games gold medallists then scampered to victory in just 10 overs with openers Ayesha Zafar and Javeria Khan doing most of the job. Zafar and Khan added 44 runs for the first wicket to ease Pakistan chase. The only bright spot for Nepal was Jaffers run out by Saraswati Chaudhary in the 10th over. Zafar top scored with a 35-ball 26 hitting three boundaries, while Khan remained unbeaten on 16 off 21 with a four.
Earlier, Nepal were no match against a strong Pakistani bowling attack as they lost wickets at regular intervals beginning with a twin dismissal of opener Kajol Shrestha (one) and Sita Rana Magar (duck) in the second over off Anam Amin.
Nepal soon lost former skipper Neera Rajopadhyay (two), Jyoti Pandey (eight), Nary Thapa (naught), Sarita Magar (one) and Indu Barma (eight) in a space of 22 runs to be placed at 26-7 by the 10th over. Skipper Rubina Chhetri and Karuna Bhandari brought up Nepal’s highest partnership of the day collecting 14 runs before the latter’s dismissal resumed the slide.
Chhetri top scored for Nepal with a 33-ball 11 in a boundaryless innings. Pandey, Barma and Bhandari hit a boundary each for Nepal who went close to 50-run mark courtesy 10 extra runs gifted by Pakistan. Along with Amin, Sania Mir and Sadiya Yousuf also picked up two wickets for Pakistan. Nepal next play Sri Lanka at the same venue on Monday.
In another match of the day, defending champions India hammered Bangladesh by 64 runs. Spurred by a solid 70-run opening wicket partnership between Mithali Raji (49) and Smriti Mandana (41), India piled up 118-6 in 20 overs. Poonam Yadav then picked up three wickets as Bangladesh were dismissed for 54 runs in 18.2 overs.
In a six-team single round robin league tournament that also includes hosts Thailand, the top two teams will enter the final. India had beaten Pakistan in previous edition held in China in 2012.
Summary
Pakistan 48-1 in 10 overs (A Zafar 26, J Khan 16 not out) beat Nepal 47 all out in 18.1 overs (R Chhetri 11, J Pandey 8, I Barma 8; A Amin 2-7, S Mir 2-7, S Yousuf 2-11) by nine wickets