Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) set up a final clash with Region No 1 (Biratnagar) in the Wai Wai Women’s U-19 National Cricket Tournament.
The semifinal between Bhairahawa and Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) ended with no result as rain forced to abandon the match at TU Cricket Ground on Sunday. As per the tournament regulation, Bhairahawa, which has better group stage performance than Nepalgunj, qualified to the final. Nepalgunj had elected to bat and put up 54/5 before rain stopped the match.
By then Sudha Thapa had claimed two wickets while Saiyya Gurung had taken a wicket for Bhairahawa. Laxmi Chaudhary had scored unbeaten 18 runs off 34 balls by then.
In the first semifinal, Kajol Shrestha and Sanjhana Budhathoki put up a brilliant batting performance to seal a 53-run victory over defending champion Janakpur.
Sanjhana Budhathoki receives player-of-the-match trophy
Electing to bat first, Biratnagar put up 137/2 in allotted 25 overs. Opener Rosana Rai (eight runs off 21 balls) and No 3 Sangita Rai (eight runs off 15 balls) got out early but another opener Shrestha and Budhathoki put up an unbeaten 93-run partnership for third wicket. Shrestha remained unbeaten with 50 runs off 71 balls including four boundaries while Budhathoki garnered unbeaten 39 runs off 45 balls including three boundaries. Janakpur gave away 32 runs as extras. Anuradha Chaudhary and Shanti Chaudhary claimed a wicket each for Janakpur.
Chasing the total, Janakpur was all out for meager 84 runs in 21.1 overs. Saraswati Chaudhary scored 17 runs off 27 balls but the rest of the batters could not reach double-digit scores. Had not Biratnagar bowled 25 extras, Janakpur would have suffered more humiliating defeat.
Yanji Sherpa and player-of-the-match Budhathoki took two wickets each while Sabnam Rai, Sapana Shrestha and Sangita Rai claimed a wicket each. Three batswomen of Janakpur fell short to the crease.
The final match would be played at TU Cricket Ground on Monday.