KATHMANDU, Jan 5: Region No 4 (Bhairahawa) continued their winning streak in the Wai Wai Women´s National Twenty20 Cricket Tournament as they beat Region No 3 (Kathmandu) by 22 runs at the Pulchowk Cricket Ground on Wednesday. Region No 7 (Janakpur) outclassed Region No 2 (Birgunj) by 79 runs in the day´s other match.
Bhairahawa put up 120/8 in the allotted 20 overs and then restricted Kathmandu to 98/9.
Opener Madhu Thapa topscored for Bhairahawa with 41 runs off 31 balls, while Kathmandu gave away 22 runs in extras. Arati Koiral struck 15 runs and Pratiksha Basyal added an unbeaten 10 runs.
Karuna Bhandari took three wickets for Kathmandu while Shraddha Aryal and skipper Neera Rajopadhyay claimed two wickets each.
In the run chase, Kathmandu could never settle down properly as Arati Koiral sent four of their batswomen back to the pavilion and Khina Thapa also took three wickets. Sarita Magar (32 runs) and Karuna Bhandari (28 runs) tried to anchor the innings but failed to resist Bhairahawa´s bowling attack.
With the win, Bhairahawa top the group ´A´ points table with four points from two games. Kathmandu are in second position with two points from as many matches. Janakpur, who lost to Kathmandu on Tuesday, also have two points from two matches but have an inferior net run rate.
Meanwhile, Janakpur defeated Birgunj in the other match to gain two crucial points. Janakpur put up 127/7 in the allotted 20 overs and bundled Birgunj out for 48 runs in 14 overs. Kabita Gautam scored 35 while Rosi Kadari remained unbeaten on 29 runs for Janakpur. Shobha Ale added 18 runs.
In reply, Birgunj suffered a lopsided defeat as none of their batswomen could reach double figures. Woman-of-the-match Sobha Ale took five wickets for Janakpur. Ale bowled four overs, conceding eight runs including seven wides, for her five-wicket haul.
Region No 5 (Nepalgunj) will take on Region No 6 (Baitadi) on Thursday at the Pulchowk Cricket Ground. Likewise, Region No 1 (Biratnagar) will lock horns with Region No 8 (Pokhara).
REPUBLICA
