Kathmandu, Nov. 14: Nepal defeated the hosts, the UAE, by eight wickets on Wednesday in the Asian Qualifiers to progress to the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup-2025 in Malaysia. Nepal also qualified for the 2024 ACC Women’s U-19 Asia Cup after the win. 

Nepal defeated the UAE in the 12th and final match of the Qualifiers played between four teams in a double round-robin format. Nepal qualified as the top team in the points table ousting the UAE on net run rate.

Kuwait ended its campaign in the Qualifiers without a single win while Thailand bagged its second by defeating Kuwait by 104 runs in the first match of Wednesday, the 11th of the Qualifiers. Thailand’s other win also came against Kuwait on November 9.

Meanwhile, until the final match day, the UAE was the only unbeaten team while Nepal had won four of its five. Thus, all eyes were on the final match as the two favourites, Nepal and UAE, competed in the decider.

Nepal’s only loss in the Qualifiers came against the hosts when the duo met in their first encounter on November 9; Nepal lost by 13 runs. However, Nepal responded with a better performance on Wednesday to defeat the UAE under 16 overs. The 16-over deadline in the T20 was necessary to defeat the UAE on net run rate in the points table as they would end with 10 points each. 

UAE’s batting shattered

The UAE was on a high with the bat as they were scoring a lot against Thailand and Kuwait. The hosts had also posted a decent total against Nepal in the previous match. Thus, winning the toss, UAE skipper Samaira Dhanidharka elected to bat first against Nepal once again.

However, Nepali bowlers shattered the UAE’s line-up in the most crucial match, restricting the hosts to 83 runs in the loss of nine wickets in the first inning. 

Skipper Puja Mahato, Krishma Gurung, Rachana K. Chaudhary, Riya Sharma and Seemana KC bowled four overs each and only the skipper was without a wicket. While Gurung bagged four, Sharma and KC took two each, and Chaudhary bowled out Lavanya Keny, UAE’s opener and most important batter.

Wicketless, but Mahato was the most economical (11 runs in four overs); Sharma (12 runs) followed her. UAE’s skipper was the highest run scorer for the team with 31 off 48. 

Easy chase for Nepal

The match was not supposed to be so easy as Nepal was facing the best team in the Qualifiers so far; moreover, Nepal had already lost in the previous encounter. However, the bowlers did a great job restricting the UAE to a paltry and left everything to the batting lineup.

Responding to the bowlers’ role, Nepali batters also proved their worth by chasing the target in 14.4 overs in the loss of two wickets.

Nepal’s opener Sana Praveen played her best inning in the League by staying not out until the team had won and qualified for the squad’s maiden T20 World Cup. It is only the second edition of the World Cup which will be hosted by Malaysia.

It was the UAE who had qualified from Asia in the first edition. But Nepal, co-host of the third edition with Bangladesh in 2027, claimed the spot in the biggest event this time. Meanwhile, it was vice-captain Sony Pakhrin (13 off 19) who stayed not out with Praveen to chase the target successfully. Sabitri Dhami and Mahato contributed 12 off 9 and 21 off 18 before departing in the 3rd and 7th overs respectively.

Mehak Thakur was the only wicket-taker for the UAE with all-rounders Keny and Dharnidharka completing their four-over spell. Indhuja Nandakumar was bowling her third when Nepal completed the chase and entered the World Cup as the final and 16th team.

Nepal in Group D

Nepal’s group members and fixtures have been confirmed after the qualification to the World Cup being played in January 2025. Of the four groups with four teams each, Nepal is in Group D with Australia, Bangladesh and Scotland. Nepal will face Bangladesh, Scotland and Australia on January 18, 20 and 22 respectively. All the matches will be played at UKM-YSD Cricket Oval in Bangi, Malaysia.

Nepal can progress to the Super 6 stage by finishing as the top three teams. Three top teams in the group will play in the Super 6, a league stage played in two groups of six each. The top two teams from each group in the Super 6 will then qualify for the semi-finals. Before that, Nepal will play in the 2024 Asia Cup against India and Pakistan in the group stage. Nepal is facing Pakistan and India on December 15 and 16 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.