KATHMANDU: Nepal has defeated Malaysia by 34 runs at the fourth match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier held at Bangkok on Tuesday.

Nepal restricted opponent Malaysia to paltry 92 runs while it was chasing the 127-run target. Sarita Magar and Karuna Bhandari took two wickets of Malaysia giving away 12 and 14 runs, respectively, exerting pressure on Malaysia. Similarly Sita Rana Magar and Kabita Kunwar grabbed one wicket each.

While chasing the 127-run target set by Nepal, Malaysian cricketer Christina Baret was out for 21 runs, WA Duraisingam for 18 and Sasha Azmi for 16 while the rest batsmen could not reach double-digit runs.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Nepal had secured 126 runs, losing five wickets in the allotted 20 overs against Malaysia. Sita Rana Magar top-scored with 42 runs including two fours off 40 balls, Rubina Chhetry collected 33 runs including three fours off 25 balls and remained not-out while Kajal Shrestha contributed 16 runs including three fours off 29 balls.

In reply, Zumika Azmi, Sasha Azmi and WA Duraisingam grabbed one wicket each.

A total of seven countries from Asia are participating in the qualifier. Nepal, the UAE, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Kuwait along with the host team Thailand are playing under the Round Robin League. Each team will play six games.

Nepal will take on Thailand in its second match on February 21. It will play against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its second match on February 22, against Hong Kong on February 24, against China on February 25 and against Kuwait on February 27. The winner of the qualifiers will be selected for the ICC Women T-20 World Cup Qualifier 2019.

This qualifier would determine the raking of participating countries. Thailand is in the 12th position, UAE in the 14th while Nepal in the 16th in T-20 Ranking. A total of 27 countries including seven from Asia, nine from Africa, six from Oceania, three from Europe and two from America would compete in the first-phase selection.

A 14-member Nepali cricket team led by Captain Rubina Chhetri left here for Thailand on Saturday for the same. Sita Rana Magar (Vice-Captain), Sarita Magar, Neri Thapa, Indu Barma, Sonu Khadka, Arati Bidari, Kajal Shrestha, Roma Thapa, Kabita Kunwar, Apsara Begam, Mamata Kumari Chaudhari and Bindu Rawal are in the team.

Similarly, Binod Das and Nira Rajopadhaya are the chief coach and assistant-coach of the team, respectively.