Preview: Nepal Women to face UAE Women in the semi-final

Nepal Women will face United Arab Emirates Women’s team in the first semi-final of the Asian Cricket Council Women’s T20 Championship on Friday, June 24 at Kinrara Oval.

UAE Women’s team registered a massive 153 runs victory over Qatar in their last group match, which made them the table-topper in Group A with 7 points from 4 matches. Meanwhile, Nepal lost to Hong Kong in their last group match by 7 wickets, which led them to stay as the Number 2 team in Group B.

Head to Head (Nepal 2- 1 UAE)
Nepal Women and UAE Women have played three Women’s T20I matches, and Nepal recorded two victories, both batting second in the 2019 season. The first victory came in the Thailand Women’s T20 Smash tournament. UAE batted first and managed 105/6 while Nepal chase the target in 19.0 overs and won by 6 wickets.

Likewise, Nepal bowled out UAE Women for 41 runs in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier in 2019 and won the match by 7 wickets in 10.2 overs.

However, in a recent encounter, UAE Women stunned Nepal by 48-runs during the 2021/22 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier in Dubai. Nepal Women bowled out for 79 runs during the chase of 128 runs, thus, UAE qualified for the global qualifiers.

Recent form
Nepal Women: L W W W W
UAE Women: W W W D W

In the last four matches, Nepal Women batted first on three occasions and posted decent totals – 94/9 vs Bhutan Women, 107/4 vs Kuwait Women and 109/6 vs Hong Kong Women. UAE Women have posted 214/1 vs Qatar Women, 134/1 vs Malaysia Women, 33/0 (2.4) vs Singapore Women.

Nepal Batting vs UAE Batting
Rubina Chhetri averages 87.0 for Nepal in the tournament. She is sitting at the top with 87 runs in four innings and remained unbeaten in three innings. Chhetri has managed 9 boundaries with a strike rate of 93.54. Indu Barma is second on the list with 48 runs in 4 matches, with an average of 16.00. Bindu Rawal has managed 35 runs in three innings with an 11.66 batting average.

Meanwhile, UAE Women’s batting form is top-heavy in the tournament. Only three batters have batted in all four matches. Esha Rohit Oza(170) has scored almost double what Rubina has managed from four matches with an average of 85.00. Oza has also managed a century(115) and her skill and strength have gathered 24 boundaries and 5 sixes, with a strike rate of 151.78. In WT20I, Oza has two centuries and four half-centuries from 33 matches. Her highest score is 158* against Bahrain Women on 26 March 2022.

Oza’s opening partner Theertha Satish is yet to be dismissed in the tournament. Satish has 110 runs with a strike rate of 110 and managed two half-centuries.
Kavisha Kumari comes in Number 3 position. She has managed 46 runs with a strike rate of 158.69 from two innings.

Nepal Bowling vs UAE Bowling
In bowling, Nepal’s Sangita Rai has managed 7 wickets in three matches with an average of 5.42 and Sita Rana Magar has grabbed 5 wickets in the group stage. Kabita Kunwar has four wickets.

UAE bowling is tough in the bowling department. Suraksha Kotte’s off break has brought 6 dismissals in just two innings. Medium-fast bowler – Induja Nandakumar has 5 wickets from three innings and Chaya Mughal’s medium pace has 5 wickets as well. Meanwhile, Esha Rohit Oza’s all-round performance with her Offbreak has 4 wickets.

Run-outs and Poor fielding
In the match against Bhutan, Nepal Women lost three wickets in run-outs while they lost two wickets against Hong Kong. Nepal’s fielding has also let the team down on numerous occasions. Dropped catches, ground fielding and running between the wickets are the major concerns for Rubina’s team.

Overall, UAE Women look favourites over the Nepal team in the semi-final. Nepal’s batting will be tested again for sure.

Nischal Tiwari
Nischal Tiwarihttps://cricnepal.com
Nischal Tiwari is the Editor of cricnepal.com. He writes cricketing stories and news, based in Oklahoma, US, and tweets at @ni5chaltiwari.

Related

Latest

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Latest

- Advertisement -