The Wai Wai Women’s National Twenty20 Cricket Tournament began with emphatic victories to Region No 4 Bhairahawa and Region No 3 Kathmandu at the IOE Ground.
Kathmandu needed just 6.4 overs to knock of Region No 2 Birgunj’s 33/8 to win by 9 wickets while Bhairahawa surpassed Region No 7 Janakpur’s 102/6 with four balls to spare for a 7-wicket victory.
Birgunj won the toss and elected to bat first. After losing Nisha Giri in the second ball, Birgunj women found it hard to get runs off the bat. They finished 20 overs at 33/8 with extras contributing 12. Manisha Chaulagain topscored with 7 while Ganga Regmi (5) and Sita Shrestha (4*) were other contributers.
Player of the match Sharddha Aryal (2/6) and Karuna Bhandari (2/2) were the pick of the bowlers.
Kathmandu lost opener Swastika Poudel in the first ball of the second over, but Shilu Rijal (12 not out) and Sarita Magar (15 not out) knocked off needed runs for a quick victory.
Earlier, Janakpur scored 102/6 in 20 overs after electing to bat first. Usha Bhujel topscored in the innings with 24 off 46 while Kriti Mandal got 16 off 20. Janakpur got 32 extra runs while Indu Verma was the pick of the bowlers taking 2/14.
Indu followed her bowling marvels with 25 runs off 21 balls when Bhairahawa chased. Aksha Gurung got 32 off 49 and Khina Thapa 14 off 21 as Bhairahawa easily surpassed the score.