Nepal successfully recovered from Sunday’s loss to the United States to beat Rwanda by 38 runs on Tuesday at Gahanga Cricket Stadium. Nepal made the best out of their clinical bowling to dominate the hosts and secure their third win in the ICC Women’s Challenge Trophy campaign in Kigali. Opting to bat first, Nepal collapsed to unprecedented wickets where Samjhana Khadka, Bindu Rawal, Rubi Poddar, and Puja Mahato were all dismissed in early stages of the innings. The team was left crumbling until Indu Barma came to the rescue, scoring an unbeaten 33 off 45 balls to win player of the match award. She was supported by Kabita Kunwar who also hit 24 runs from 26 balls as Nepal posted 103 runs after 20 overs. Chasing down 104 runs for the win, Rwanda struggled to get off to the rhythm amid strong bowling from Nepal which saw Fanny Utagushimaninde back to the pavilion in the first over. Scoring opportunities remained modest for the hosts until captain Marie Diane Bimenyimana took the lead to score 19 runs off 27 balls, supported by Geovanis Uwase, who contributed a quickfire 12 off 7 balls to bring Rwanda back in contention Rwanda. However, Nepal’s bowlers remained a menace for Rwanda who consistently fell on wickets and were eventually bowled out for a mere 65 runs in 17.4 overs.
