Region No 6 Baitadi thrashed Region No 1 Biratnagar by six wickets on Sunday in a crucial match to book semifinal berth in the Wai Wai Women’s National Cricket Tournament.
Either team had the chance of qualifying for the semifinal with the win but Baitadi proved to be superior in the crucial match of group ‘B’ at the IOE Ground.
Janaki Bhatta of Baitadi scored 58 not out to take her team to semifinal. Photo Courtesy: Republica
Baitadi met the target in 15 overs losing four wickets. Baitadi had a disastrous start losing two wickets at 1 run. However, woman of the match Janaki Bhatta remained unbeaten at 58 runs off 48 balls and guided Baitadi to the victory. Ritu Kanojiya was not out with 11 runs.
With the win, Baitadi became runners-up in the group ‘B’ of the tournament tallying four points from three matches. Biratnagar has two points from three matches.
Region No 5 Nepalgunj remained unbeaten at the top of the group with six points from three matches. Nepalgunj outclassed Region No 8 Pokhara by 108 runs.
Nepalgunj, electing to bat first, put up 149/4 in 20 overs as woman of the match Sita Rana Magar scored 65 runs while Captain Nery Thapa remained unbeaten at 39 runs off 18 balls. Rana and Thapa struck seven boundaries each in their blistering innings. Binu Budhamagar added 16 runs while Trishna Singh contributed 14 runs.
In reply, Pokhara were all out for 41 runs in 16.2 overs. Opener Manita Gautam scored 10 runs while Aarati Bidari tried to anchor Pokhara’s inning with unbeaten 17 runs but the wickets kept falling on the other end of the crease. Nery Thapa, Usha Bista and Samana Pun took two wickets each while four batswomen of Pokhara were run out.
Region No 4 Bhairahawa and Region No 3 Kathmandu, from the group ‘A’, had already booked their spot in semifinal.