Women's Asia Cup 2024: Samjhana Khadka, Indu Barm guide Nepal to victory over United Arab Emirates

Dambulla [Sri Lanka], July 19 (ANI): With the help of opener Samjhana Khadka's unbeaten 72 and captain Indu Barma's three-wicket haul, Nepal Women upset the United Arab Emirates Women by six wickets in the opening match of the Women's Asia Cup 2024 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium on Friday.

Khadka made a strong start to the Asia Cup. In May, she was the top run scorer in Nepal's local Twenty20 competition, the Lalitpur Mayor Women's Championship. Her achievements were mostly at the top of the hierarchy for the runners-up, Sudur Paschim Province. Despite not having opened the batting in any of her 16 T20Is before this match, Nepal chose to take advantage of her home record and promoted her, and she did not let them down.

In the first over of the chase, Khadka got things moving with a four, opening the bat face to lead Dharnidharka through backward point. In the third over, she demonstrated her powerful back-foot punches through cover, and Nepal quickly gained momentum. Running between the wickets, which put pressure on the infielders, was one of the features of her knock. Under such pressure, the UAE gave up, with Khadka managing to score runs even at the half-stops.

Khadka became the first Nepali batter to reach 50 in the Women's Asia Cup, reaching her milestone in just 35 balls. When she hit the winning runs, she concluded with her career-high T20I score, which was 56 runs more than the previous best held by a hitter from Nepal throughout the competition.

Earlier in the first innings, after deciding to bowl, Nepal brought in seamers Kabita Kunwar and Sabnam Rai into action. In the four overs, they bowled together for a combined total of 27, despite taking two wickets (Esha Oza was run out trying for a single in the second over, and Rinitha Rajith missed a reckless hoick to be bowled on the next ball).

The runs stopped when spin was introduced in the attack. The pick of the bowler for her side was Indu Barma who snapped three wickets in her spell of four overs where she conceded 19 runs. One wicket each was bagged by Sabnam Rai, Kabita Joshi, and Kritika Marasini in their respective spells.

In February 2024, Nepal became the semi-finalist in the ACC Women's Premier Cup qualification event. However, the Asian Cricket Council made a major announcement in March when they released the schedule, stating that the semi-finalists of that competition would be qualified to compete in the Asia Cup, making it the largest-ever edition. The idea to open the event to more teams appears to have been supported by Nepal's victory on the first day.

Nepal participated in eight Women's Asia Cup matches between 2012 and 2016, however, they were unable to win any of them. They too nearly missed the bus for the Women's Asia Cup 2024, but Nepal made it here thanks to a last-minute change in the rules in March 2024, and they now enjoy their first-ever victory in the competition.

Brief Score: Nepal 118 for 4 (Khadka 72*, Egodage 3-12) beat UAE 115 for 8 (Khushi 36, Egodage 22, Barma 3-19) by six wickets. (ANI)