UAE, Nepal, and Hong Kong advance to the women’s T20 World Cup Asia semifinals

After scoring 142 for three in their first innings on match day four of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier, UAE defeated Bahrain by 69 runs to go to the semi-finals.
The other side from Group A to get to the semifinals was Nepal, which beat Bahrain by more than nine overs while chasing down a target of 75. They play the UAE on Wednesday to decide who wins the group and who advances to the semi-finals against the second-place team from Group B. Despite a convincing eight-wicket victory over Bhutan, hosts Malaysia are no longer in the running for a spot in the semi-finals.

Thailand in Group B reduced Kuwait to 22 for four in the tenth over before the teams were forced to split the points due to rain. As a result, Hong Kong has earned a spot in the semifinals. The most likely candidate to join them is Thailand. Their net run rate is greater than four, while Kuwait’s is negative. Kuwait must defeat Myanmar in their final match by a wide margin and hope that Hong Kong defeats Thailand handily in order to advance to the semifinals.

With more than four overs left in an 11-over-a-side match, China defeated Myanmar by scoring 50 runs.

UAE versus Bahrain

Esha Oza pulled together half-century stands with Theertha Satish and Kavisha Egodage while hitting five fours and a six in her unbeaten 78.

Bahrain’s captain Deepika Rasangika bowled Pavithra Shetty and Sadamali Arachchige unaltered during the powerplay after choosing to bowl first. Oza and Satish successfully completed the first six overs, scoring 43 runs in the process. Swarna Nunna gave up a boundary to each of the UAE’s two openers in the following over, which turned out to be the most costly of the innings. Bahrain’s best bowler was Tharanga Gajanayake, who eliminated Satish and Egodage for runs totaling 23 apiece.

Oza, however, remained unfazed and while traveling to the UAE, he smashed Rasangika over the ropes in the penultimate over, giving Bahrain a dominant target of 143.

Bahrain’s response, who managed to score 17 runs off their first eight overs without losing a wicket, initially alarmed the UAE bowlers. Vaishnave Mahesh managed to dismiss fellow openers Abeera Ali and Ishara Suhun before reducing Bahrain to 19 for three in the ninth over.

Rasangika led all scorers once again in the competition with 25. When it rained during the 18th over, she was still unblemished. Bahrain was determined to be 69 runs behind the DLS par score, making further play impossible.

Brief ratings:

Bahrain 48/4 in 17.1 Overs (Rasangika 25*, Mahesh 4-10) was defeated by UAE 142/3 in 20 Overs (Oza 78*, Gajanayake 2-15) by 69 Runs (DLS Method).

Qatar vs. Nepal

For Nepal, Indu Barma shone with both bat and ball. Prior to hitting an undefeated 12-ball 20 to help her team beat the mark in the eleventh over, she contributed 3-10 to Nepal’s success in holding Qatar to 74 for seven.

Khadija Imtiaz got off to a strong start when Qatar was given the opportunity to bat, clipping Puja Mahato into the leg side for four. Imtiaz was caught in front for four points as Mahato returned off the subsequent ball. Before Barma ran out Aleena Khan and Saachi Dhadwal, who had successfully guided their team to 23 in the eighth over, he also successfully trapped captain Aysha to the same fate with another precise toss.

Similar to how Barma left Dhadwal and Shrutiben Rana stranded in front, Qatar was six down with three overs remaining. With 17 runs scored in the final three overs and two boundaries in an unbeaten 14, Angeline Mare helped her team set a target of 75 for Nepal.

In the first ball of the innings, Kajal Shrestha smashed Rochelle Quyn through the off side for four, and in the following over, she pulled Khan away for four. With the score at 47 in the seventh over and two more boundaries added to her 32-run innings, Sabeeja Panayan bowled her.

Although it came a little too late, eventual Player of the Match Barma once more stopped Qatar.

Brief ratings:

By 9 Wickets, Nepal defeated Qatar 74/7 in 20 Overs (Dhadwal 21, Khan 15, Barma 3-10) in a match that lasted 10.3 overs (Shrestha 32, Barma 20*, Panayan 1-23).

Nepal versus Malaysia

Bhutan was given the opportunity to bat, but Yeshey Choden was dismissed for a duck in the first over. After a 32-run partnership between Ngawang Choden and Dechen Wangmo, Nur Dania Syuhada bowled Wangmo, and Ngawang Choden followed suit to reduce Bhutan to 36 for three after 12 overs.

In the end, Bhutan’s innings ended without them adding another boundary, giving Malaysia a reasonable goal of 60.

Malaysia was never really in danger, as they chased the winning target of three runs per over. In the first four overs, Ainna Hamizah and Winifred Duraisingam both collected one boundary, bringing the total up to 16. The best bowler was Tshering Zangmo, who caught both of the leadoff players. Mahirah Izzati and Mas Elysa then finished off the chase with unbeaten innings of 17 and 13, respectively.

Kuwait and Thailand

Nattaya Boochatham recorded 3-3, becoming the first player from an associate nation to amass 100 wickets in women’s T20Is despite the match being called off due to rain. In the fourth over, she caught Amna Tariq behind the stumps, and in the next, she caught Zeefa Jilani in front, giving her a total of two wickets. The next victim for Boochatham was Priyada Murali, who was bowled out for 11. Just before rain wiped out the remainder of the competition, Maryam Omar was run out.

Myanmar vs. China

Following China’s decision to bowl first, Qian Xu struck with the new ball in back-to-back overs, catching Khin Min Myat in front to reduce Myanmar to 8 for two in the third over. For her team, Zon Lin was the only batter to reach double figures, scoring 13. However, China maintained tight control, preventing any goals from their adversaries.

Yue Chen began her innings by driving Theine Theine Soe through the off side for four and launching Lin Lin Tun to the boundary in the following over as she attempted to reach the winning score of 50. Rongyu Zhao kept the singles going despite being quiet at start, clipping Zon Lin away for her first boundary. By the time she was chased away, China had virtually locked up victory.

To make things official and assist China in claiming their first victory of the competition, Yue Chen slogged a four into the leg side.

Brief ratings:

Yue Chen 28, Rongyu Zhao 12, and China (52/1 in 6.5 Overs) defeated Myanmar (49/6 in 11 Overs; Zon Lin 13, Qian Xu 2-10) by 9 Wickets.