Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal climbed to the top of the SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship table after securing another emphatic win over Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Nepal thrashed Sri Lanka 7-0 in its fourth match of the tournament at the Bashundhara Sports Ground in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Kusum Khatri and Samikshya Magar scored a brace each, while Purnima Rai, Sarita Nath, and Birsana Chaudhary added one goal apiece for Nepal.
Nepal opened the scoring in the 15th minute as Purnima Rai capitalized after the Sri Lankan defense failed to clear Senu Pariyar’s pass from the right wing. Although her initial header struck the crossbar, Rai scored with the rebound. Kusum doubled Nepal’s lead in the 35th minute, slotting home a loose ball after Mina Dewua’s attempt deflected off a Sri Lankan defender.
Sarita Nath made it 3–0 with two minutes of the first half remaining from a powerful free kick from 25 yards. Kusum got her second and Nepal’s fourth just before halftime as her low shot from outside the box took a deflection off a Sri Lankan defender and flew into the net.
Sri Lanka nearly pulled one back in the 63rd minute, but Nepali defender Goma Rokaya made a goalline clearance to deny Sanduni Sewmini. Moments later, Nepal added a fifth as Birsana Chaudhary converted a penalty after Samikshya Magar was fouled in the box by Dulini Sandeepani.
Samikshya scored Nepal’s sixth in the 74th minute as Sarita Nath’s powerful long-range cross hit the post and fell into her path. She scored Nepal’s seventh as she collected Sushila KC’s cross and cleverly slotted past two Sri Lankan defenders.
Nepal defeated Sri Lanka in the first match with the same 7-0 scoreline on Tuesday. Sushila KC had the opportunity to make the score 8-0. But she failed to score from the post.
Following the win against Sri Lanka, Nepal has nine points from four matches.
The tournament features four teams playing in a double round-robin format. The top two teams from the round-robin format will play in the final.
Bangladesh is taking on Bhutan in the second match of the day later today.
