Nepal made a flying start by clinching a 19-run win over China in the group stage match of the Asian Games Women's Qualifier held at the Bayuemas Oval Cricket Ground in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
With the win, Nepal is atop the points table with 2 points in Group 'B' followed by China with equal 2 points from 1 win and 1 loss. Indonesia is at the bottom without points from 1 loss.
Nepal restricted China to 106/5 while the latter was chasing the 126-run target. To prevent the opponent from reaching the target, Riya Sharma took the highest 2 wickets while Manisha Upadhayay, Kabita Kunwar and Puja Mahato grabbed 1 wicket for Nepal.
Captain Mingyue Zhu's 30-run score was the highest for China. Mingyue hit 2 fours off 28-ball spell. Similarly, Wang Huiying made 21 runs followed by Wei Haiting with 18 runs while Jiaping Li contributed 15 runs. The other batters could not achieve significant runs.
Earlier, electing to bat first after winning the toss at the Bayuemas Oval Cricket Ground in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, Nepal notched up 125 runs losing 5 wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Puja Mahato topped the score with 63 runs including 6 fours off 57 deliveries followed by Runi Poddar with 22 runs while Sony Pakhrin contributed 18 runs. The other batters could not achieve significant runs.
In reply, Ma Ruike took the highest 2 wickets giving away 26 runs while Wang Huiying and Jiaping Li grabbed 1 wicket each for China.
Nepal will take on Indonesia in the last group stage match on Thursday.
.
