Former skipper Nary Thapa bowled Nepal to a four-wicket win over Hong Kong in the ICC Women’s World Cup Asia Qualifier match at the Asian Institute of  Technology Ground in Bangkok on Sunday.

Thapa single-handedly polished off Hong Kong top order taking six of the seven wickets to fall. Hong Kong were eventually restricted to 62-8 in 20 overs. However, Hong Kong refused to surrender the game and made Nepal battle for  victory, taking the match to the 19th and taking six wickets in the process.

The win was third in four matches for Nepal, who stay in fourth place having played a game less than third-placed China. Both teams have six points each. Nepal’s only loss in the seven-team event came against Thailand,  who lead the standing with eight points from four matches. Having  played a game more the leaders, United Arab Emirates (UAE) also have eight points and stay in second.

Nepal started their campaign with a 34-run win over Malaysia before losing to Thailand by 57 runs. In their last game on Friday, Nepal defeated UAE by seven wickets. Only the winners of the Qualifiers will earn a ticket to the 2020 ICC  Twenty20 World Cup and 50-over Global Qualifiers.

Openers Yasmin Daswani and Bella Poon gave Hong Kong a composed start putting on 23 runs in seven overs. But player-of-the-match Thapa triggered a dramatic Hong Kong batting collapse by having Poon caught by skipper Rubina Chhetry in the last ball of the seventh over. Poon scored 11 off 24 balls.

Nary then returned to bowl Yee Shan To (0) in her next over, the ninth of the innings. The veteran scalped two wickets each in her next two overs. She had Daswani (16) caught by Sarita Magar in the second ball and dismissed Kary Chan (2) in the fourth ball of the 11th over. Thapa  completed her four-over spell taking the wickets of skipper Mariko Hill (2) and Jasmine Titmuss (0) in the 13th over. Sita Rana Magar took the two other Hong wickets including the top-scorer Marina Lamplough, who scored 24-ball 19.

Nepal were tottering at 24-4 by the 10th over before a dogged knock from Apasari Begam steadied the ship with a 24-run innings. Nepal lost openers Kajal Shrestha (4) and Sita Rana Magar (0) in the third over bowled by Titmuss with the score at 6-2. They were in dire straits when Indu Barma (4) and skipper Rubina Chhetry (6) were also sent packing. But Begum lead the Nepali fightback slamming three boundaries in her 35-ball knock which almost took Nepal close to the winning target.

Begam and Sarita Magar put on 32-run stand for the fifth wicket. Magar remained firm to ensure Nepal complete the chase without any major hiccup, scoring an unbeaten 16 from 30 deliveries. Titmuss was pick of the Hong Kong bowlers taking 3-11 from 3.3 overs, while Chan, Shan To and Hill also took one wicket each. Nepal take on China on Monday before wrapping up their campaign with a match against Kuwait on February 27.

Summary

Nepal 63-6 in 18.3 overs (A Begam 24, S Magar 16*; J Titmuss 3-11, K Chan 1-10) beat Hong Kong 62-8 in 20 overs (M Lamplough 19, Y Daswani 16; N Thapa 6-8, SR Magar 2-7) by four wickets

Player-of-the-match: N Thapa