Nepali women cricket team ended the Asian Games 2010 campaign with dismal performance with just one win in three matches and were unable to reach the semifinals.
They lost to Japan twice – once in league and next in quarterfinals and registered a win against Hong Kong.
Japan too mighty for Nepal
Japan once again defeated Nepal in women´s cricket by a huge margin on Wednesday, shattering Nepal´s medal hopes in the event at the 16th Asian Games.
Japan, who had earlier beaten Nepal by 10 wickets in the opening game of the event, thrashed Nepal by 45 runs on Wednesday at the Guanggong International Cricket Stadium.
Winning the toss, Japan elected to bat first and piled up a huge total of 135 runs in the allotted 20 overs losing four wickets. In reply, Nepali batswomen could not resist the Japanese bowling attack and scored 90/9 in 20 overs.
Captain Neera Rajopadhyay and Nary Thapa tried to anchor the innnings and chase the target. Nepal were once 15/3 but Rajopadhyay and Thapa built a partnership of 54 runs for the fourth wicket before Rajopadhyay was run out by a whisker for 37 runs off 47 balls. Thapa struck 26 off 40 balls, but rest of the Nepali batswomen failed to reach double figures. Kurumi Ota and Ayako Nayakama took two wickets each for Japan.
Earlier, Japan posted the highest team total in an innings in the tournament after openers Ema Kuribayashi and Mariko Yamamoto gave an 88-run stand for the first wicket.
Kuribayashi scored 63 off 60 and Yamamoto struck 41 off 40. Sarita Magar took two wickets while Ritu Kanaujiya and Rajopadhyay claimed a wicket each for Nepal
Nepal keeps alive hopes
They kept alive the medal hope beating Hong Kong by eight wickets in a crunch match in the 16th Asian Games.
Nepal will now play Japan on Nov 17 and the winner of the match qualifies for the semifinal against Pakistan scheduled for Nov 18.
After an embarrassing loss against Japan in the opening match, Nepali women recovered against Hong Kong who won the toss and elected to bat first.
Hong Kong were restricted to 72/9 despite a brilliant innings by Connie Wong who got 47.
For Nepal, Nary Thapa topscored with 27 off 25 balls with four boundaries.
Nepal had faced a shocking defeat on the opening day of the cricketing event in the 16th Asian Games on Saturday.
Nepal’s hopes of reaching the semifinals of women’s cricket were dashed after a humiliating 10-wicket defeat against Japan. Japan won the toss and invited Nepal to bat first. Japan unexpectedly restricted Nepal to 62 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
Roshani Bohara’s 16 runs off 24 balls turned out to be highest in the Nepali innings as captain Nira Rajopadhyay and Nary Thapa returned to the pavilion without scoring. Bohara struck two boundaries before getting out in the bowling of Suda Ajsuko.
Rashmi Sharma was the only other Nepali batswoman to score in double digits. Sharma scored 13 runs off 40 balls. Meanwhile, Binu Budha Magar scored nine runs while Sarita Magar scored six runs. Miyami Sijuka took two wickets for Japan to restrict the Nepali innings.
In reply, Japan met the total in 11.4 overs without losing any wicket. Opener Kuribasi scored a run-a-ball 32 while Yamamoto Mariko scored 29 runs off 14 balls.
Nepali team captain Rajopadhyay cited the last minute arrival of coach Janga Bahadur Rana and two key players, Sita Rana Magar and Rekha Rawal, at the venue for the poor performance. The trio arrived in Guangzhou only on Saturday because of air ticket problems. “We could not make a plan as the coach arrived late due to ticket problems, and the girls took the opponents too lightly,” said Rajopadhyay.