KUALA LAMPUR: Puja Mahato backer her brilliant bowling figures of 2/27 with an anchoring 47-run knock and led Nepal to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the fourth match of the ACC U19 Women’s Asia Cup 2024.
The green shirts, who suffered their second consecutive defeat, have been knocked out of the tournament, paving the way for Nepal and arch-rivals India to storm in the Super Four stage.
Pakistan will now take on either Bangladesh or Malaysia in the fifth-place play-off on Wednesday.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan’s batting unit once again faltered as it could only yield 104 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Opening batter Komal Khan waged a lone battle for the green shirts as she top-scored with a cautious 38 off 43 deliveries, laced with two boundaries.
Besides her, Maham Anees (29*), Ravail Farhan (13) and Zoofishan Ayyaz (12) amassed double figures.
Mahato led Nepal’s bowling charge with two wickets, while Rachana Chaudhary, Riya Sharma and Seemana KC made one scalp apiece.
Chasing a modest 105-run target, Nepal comfortably knocked the winning runs for the loss of just four wickets and six balls to spare.
Leading the way was their captain Mahato, who top-scored with an unbeaten 47 off as many deliveries, comprised of three boundaries.
Seemana, who scored an unbeaten 12 off as many deliveries, also made notable contribution in the run chase.
For Pakistan, Quratulain Ahsen and Fatima Khan could pick up one wicket apiece.
