Nepal seal T20I series against Malaysia 3-2 with a five-wicket win in the decider

KATHMANDU: Nepali national women’s cricket team clinched the five-match bilateral T20 International series against Malaysia 3-2.

In the decisive fifth match of the series played in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, Nepal defeated Malaysia by five wickets. Batting first after winning the toss, Malaysia scored 103 runs for the loss of seven wickets, helped by Winifred Duraisingam’s 40 from 46 balls. Mahirah Izzati scored 19, Ainna Hashim contributed 15, Nur Syuhada added 11 and Nur Izzatul chipped in with 10 for Malaysia.

Rajamati Airee and Kabitra Kunwar claimed three wickets each for Nepal, while Rachana Chaudhary had a wicket to her name.

Nepal chased down the target in 18 overs, losing five wickets. Nepal made a solid start in the chase with opener Rubi Poddar and Samjhana Khadka adding 26 and 13, respectively. Pooja Mahato, Rubina Chhetry and Kabita Kunwar contributed 23, 15 and 14 runs, respectively.

Malaysia won the first and third matches of the series by three runs and 13 runs respectively. Nepal bounced back with wins in the second and fourth games, both by six wickets, to level the series 2–2 before the decider.