Bangladesh proved their superiority over the associates by outplaying Nepal to lift the inaugural ACC Women’s Tournament at the Johar Cricket Academy, Malaysia.
In the lopsided final, Nepal lost by eight wickets after scoring 26/8 in rain-reduced 18 overs. Bangladesh chased it in 9.4 overs losing only two. It was fifth easy victory for Bangladeshi tigresses.
“It’s a victory for the whole nation and the cricket system,” said their captain Tajkia Akhtar. Truly said, none other nation in the event has that long cricket tradition as Bangladesh’s.
However, although the conclusion of the event came in a loss, it was a wonderful campaign for Nepal as they became the runners-up in the first ever international event. In addition to the runners-up trophy, Nepal’s captain Nary Thapa, with 12 wickets from five matches, also received the best bowler of the tournament award.
In the final, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first. Though Bangladesh bowler pinned down inexperienced batswomen drying up runs, they failed to claim wicket till the eighth over. Shamina Akhter undid Ritu Kanaujiya (3) with a fine yorker and two more wickets fell soon after – Madhu Thapa (0) and Manisha Rawal (1).
It was then time for rainfall to stop the match for more than four hours. When the play was suspended, Nepal was 12/3 in 12 overs. When the match resumed, Nepal had six more overs as the match was reduced to 18-over per side.
They scored 14 runs losing five wickets in those overs to give Bangladesh an easy target by their standard. Nary and Saraswoti BK scored five runs each while Neetu Thapa got four runs. For Bangladesh, Shamina, Salma Khatun, Tithy Rani Sarkar and left-arm spinner Champa Chakma took two wickets each.
However, Nepali bowlers ensured that Bangladesh wouldn’t have an easy route to victory and took two wickets and made the opponents bat for almost 10 overs. Ritu got captain Tajkia Akhtar in the first over while Nary got Player of the Tournament Panna Ghosh (4).
It was Chamely Khatun who denied further damage and a victory for Bangladesh with 17 runs off 26 balls that included a brilliantly struck boundary.
“We’re going to get better,” Nepal’s manager LB Chhetri commented after the match. “We have the spirit and we want to succeed. We didn’t know what to expect when we came to Malaysia now we know that to reach the level of Bangladesh we have to be more attacking.”
ACC Development Manager Rumesh Ratnayake too was impressed. “Nepal could reach Bangladesh’s level in two years,” he commented.
Hong Kong’s captain Neisha Pratt was awarded Batswoman of the Tournament while Bangladesh’s Mina Khatun was adjudged wicket-keeper of the tournament.
Photos by Pabitra Raut/Nepal Sports Journalists Forum