At the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, Nepal achieved their first-ever victory in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup with a six-wicket triumph over UAE, thanks to a fantastic three-wicket effort from captain Indu Barma and an unbeaten 72 from Samjhana Khadka. Together with three wickets each from Sabnam Rai, Kabita Joshi, and Kritika Marasini, Indu’s 3-19 helped Nepal limit the more-favored UAE to 115/8 in 20 overs.
With 23 balls remaining, Samjhana, who was opening in T20Is for the first time, hit 11 boundaries at a strike rate of 160 while carrying her bat the whole pursuit, smashing 72 not out off 45 balls.
After being forced to bat first, UAE faced early difficulties in the Power-play when captain Esha Oza was run out and Theertha Sathish and Rinitha Rajith fell cheaply, leaving the team three down.
Khushi Sharma led the way with 36 runs against Nepal’s precise bowling, and Colombo native Kavisha Egodage added 22 to help UAE salvage an innings. However, Nepal recovered towards the finish to make sure UAE didn’t escape with a large total.
Kavisha rose to dismiss Sita Rana Magar, Kabita Kunwar, and Rubina Chhetry in Nepal’s chase, scoring 3–12 in her four overs. However, Samjhana, who reached her fifty in thirty-five balls—the first half-century scored by a Nepalese batter in the competition—and the other bowlers from the UAE were unable to remove her from the crease. Samjhana held one end of the wicket strong enough for her team to secure a remarkable victory.
Brief scores:
UAE 115/8 in 20 overs (Khushi Sharma 36, Kavisha Egodage 22, Indu Barma 3-19) lost to Nepal 118/4 in 16.1 overs (Samjhana Khadka 72 not out, Kavisha Egodage 3-12) by six wickets