Nepal women’s team will play the opening match of the Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars against Pakistan ‘A’ in Bangkok on Friday.

Previously known as the ACC Women’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup, the tournament will see eight teams—four top Associates of Asia and four ‘A’ teams of ODI countries.

Nepal are in Group A alongside Pakistan ‘A’, India ‘A’ and the UAE. Group B has Bangladesh ‘A’, Sri Lanka ‘A’, Thailand and Malaysia.

The matches will have a T20 List-A status with ICC Ranking Points awarded for Associate nation matches.

The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each group will then play in the semifinals.

All the matches are taking place at Terdthai Cricket Ground. The Nepal vs Pakistan ‘A’ fixture will be followed by India ‘A’ vs UAE.

Nepal’s match will kick off at 8:15am Nepali time.

With Indu Barma sidelined for several months due to an injury in the T20 World Cup Qualifier in January, Puja Mahato is leading the team in Bangkok.

After Pakistan ‘A’, Nepal will face the UAE on February 15 and India ‘A’ on February 17.

Nepal’s squad: Puja Mahato (C), Bindu Rawal, Samjhana Khadka, Rubi Poddar, Rubina Chhetri, Kabita Joshi, Kabita Kunwar, Sita Rana Magar, Riya Sharma, Roma Thapa, Suman Bista, Anu Kadayat, Manisha Upadhyaya, Kajal Shrestha, Seemana KC