With the help of Captain Puja Mahato's explosive batting and lethal bowling, Nepal registered a second consecutive win over Kuwait in the ICC U-19 Women's Asia Region Qualifier underway in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Nepal defeated Kuwait by 165 runs in the cricket tournament held on Tuesday. Nepal restricted Kuwait to 48 runs in 13 overs while the latter was chasing the 214-run target.
To limit Kuwait to paltry 48 runs, Nepal captain Puja Mahato took the highest five wickets including a maiden followed by Rachana Chaudhary and Sima KC with two wickets each.
Kuwait's Zeefa Jilani's 48-run score was the highest for Kuwait. The other eight batters returned to the pavilion for zero runs.
Earlier, electing to bat first after losing the toss at the Seven Stadium in Ajman, Nepal notched up 213 runs losing two wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Captain topped the score with 130 not-out runs. She hit 17 fours off 69 balls while Sony Pakhrin made 43 runs and remained not out. Sabitri Dhami contributed 11 runs.
Nepal defeated Kuwait by 108 runs in the first match. In the final group stage match, Nepal will take on UAE on Wednesday.
Similarly, in the first match, Nepal defeated Thailand by 67 runs and registered a mammoth 106-run against it in the second match.
Nepal lost to home team UAE by 13 runs.
In the qualifiers involving four teams, each one will play six matches. The top team will book berth in the ICC U-19 World Cup to be held in Malaysia in 2025.
The winner of the Asia Region Qualifiers will be placed in Group D alongside Australia, Bangladesh and Scotland. ICC U-19 Women's World Cup will be held in Malaysia from January 18 to February 2, 2025.
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