In a closely contested match on Thursday, Nepal defeated Bhutan by three wickets at the Unity Ground, Kuwait aided by 33 extras conceded by the Bhutanese team.
Nepal will meet Thailand in the title clash. [break]
Nepal had earlier defeated Bhutan in the final of the second edition of the tournament in 2010 by five wickets. Thailand is also not a new opponent for Nepal as both teams had met in the league round where Nepal had defeated Thailand by four wickets.
On Thursday, Bhutan opted to bat first after winning the toss and scored 96 runs losing seven wickets in the allotted 25 overs. Sonu Khadka gave a breakthrough to Nepal as she took the first wicket of Bhutan with seven runs on board. Saraswoti Chaudhary grabbed two wickets of Bhutan to strengthen Nepali bowling. Dechen Wangmo and Yesney Wangmo shared a 66-run partnership to guide Bhutan for the modest total.
Dechen scored 49 runs off 58 balls with three boundaries and Yesney scored 26 runs off 34 balls with a boundary. Bhutan lost its four wickets for four runs in the last over of the innings. Rubina Chhetri bowled Yesney in the first ball of the last over while the other three batters were short to the crease. Nepal conceded 11 runs as extras.
Nepal reached the target in 24.2 overs for the loss of seven wickets with the help of 33 runs as extra conceded by the Bhutanese bowlers. Nepal had lost its first two wickets with two runs on board. Opener Shilu Rijal and Kabita Gautam were back to the pavilion on duck.
Anuradha Chaudhary and Indu Barma shared a 25-run partnership to build the score of Nepal. Barma gave away her wickets with just eight runs. Chaudhary and Skipper Rubina Chhetri shared a 21-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Chaudhary was bowled with 10 runs.
Mamata Chaudhary was out on duck and Chhetri was back to the pavilion with 20 runs. Sonu Khadka and Saraswoti Chaudhary shared a 32-run partnership for the seventh wicket which was the highest runs partnership in the match for Nepal.
Khadka was not out on 16 runs off 18 balls with two boundaries while Santoshi Chaudhary was not out for a single run. Anju Gurung grabbed two wickets for Bhutan.
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