Nepali women’s cricket team fail to qualify for Asian Games

KATHMANDU: Nepali national women’s cricket team failed to qualify for the 2026 Asian Games after they lost to China by three runs (DL method) in the third-place play-off of the Asian Games Qualifier in Malaysia on Sunday.

Batting first, Nepal scored 50 runs for the loss of five wickets in the match reduced to seven overs.

China, who were given a revised target of 43 runs in seven overs, scored 45 for the loss of five wickets in the last ball of the over.

The top four Nepali batters could only score 11 runs, with No. 4 batter Rubi Poddar out for a duck. Captain Indu Barma scored 11 before Kabita Kunwar scored 22 off 10 balls to lift the total to 50.

Ma Ruike and Zhu Mingyue took two wickets each for China, while Wang Huiying, Zhao Yihan and Li Jiaping claimed a wicket each.

For China, Captain Zhu Mingyue scored 18 off 14 and Cai Yuzhi hit an unbeaten 11.

Riya Sharma took two wickets for Nepal, while Sita Rana Magar claimed one.

This was Nepal’s first-ever defeat to China, who are ranked 21 places below them. In the group stage match of the Qualifier, Nepal had defeated China by 19 runs in