Dambulla, Sri Lanka: The Fairytale run of the Nepali women’s cricket team was finally over in the ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup as Pakistan easily triumphed their match by nine wickets in their group match in Dambulla on Monday. This means that the fate of Group A now hangs in the balance, and both teams are tied at 2 points each. Pakistan started their campaign with a loss against India, while Nepal thrashed UAE in their first group match. This target was set at 109, and Pakistan’s batting department was very efficient in chasing it. Of all the players, the match opener Gul Feroza hit 57 off 35 balls, including ten fours at the Rangiri Dambulla ground. Muniba Ali just as firmly held the fort during the chase and did not get out for 46 runs. The pair provided the first hundred partnerships to pressure Nepal and look forward to a big total.

To some extent, the only solace for Nepa came in the form of Kabita Joshi’s wicket. Nepal’s team, which batted first after losing the toss, could manage only 108 runs on the board. Sita Rana Magar played well, and she got 26 runs; Pooja Mahato played 25 runs, and Kabita Kunwar played 13 runs for Nepal to post at least a decent total. Sadia Iqbal and Fatima Sana contributed bowling for Pakistan, taking two wickets each. The Nepalese bowlers could not recreate the magic, and Pakistan chased the target without much hassle and won the match with eight balls to spare. This puts them in an ‘awkward’ situation – they must defeat India in tomorrow’s final group-stage match. Are they capable of repeating these feats and reaching the knockout stage?