Nepal beats UAE in Asia Cup 2024 opener to register a historic victory

Nepal women's team, on Friday (July 19), registered a historic win as they began their campaign in the Women's Asia Cup T20 2024 on a victorious note. More than a decade after playing their first Asia Cup match, Nepal managed to register their first-ever win in the competition.

The Nepal women's team made their debut in the Asia Cup in 2012. They played 3 games in that edition and ended up losing all of them. Nepal qualified for the 2016 edition of the Asia Cup as well but could not win a game. They played 5 games and lost all of them. 

In 2018 and 2022, Nepal could not qualify for the Asia Cup before finally returning to the competition this year. And they have celebrated their return to the Asia Cup with a historic win. They began their campaign in the tournament with an impressive six-wicket win over UAE in the opening game of the tournament in Dambulla.

𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐄 ❤️🥺

Nepal secure their first-ever win in the Women's T20 Asia Cup history! 🇳🇵#WomensAsiaCup2024 #ACC #HerStory #UAEWvNEPW pic.twitter.com/9QHK63MhuS

— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) July 19, 2024

Nepal's historic win:

Nepal won the toss and opted to bowl first and their bowlers justified the decision by restricting UAE to 115 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs. At one stage, UAE were reeling at 46 for 4 before the likes of Khushi Sharma (36 off 39) and Kavisha Egodage (22 off 26) steadied the ship.

However, the UAE still could not manage to post a challenging total. Sharma and Egodage were the only UAE batters to touch the 20-run mark with the bat. For Nepal, captain Indu Barma starred with the ball, taking 3 for 19 off her 4 overs.

Chasing 116 runs, Nepal chased down the total in less than 17 overs by losing 4 wickets. Opener Samjhana Khadka led her team's charge with the bat by scoring an unbeaten 72. Her knock came off 45 balls and was studded with 11 fours. Barring her, no Nepal batter could score more than 10 runs. For UAE, Egodage impressed with the ball as well, taking 3 for 12 runs.

Nepal will now take on Pakistan in their next game before locking horns against reigning champions India. On the other hand, the UAE will first face India before taking on Pakistan.