Nepal and Hong Kong made excellent starts to the ACC Women’s Premier 2014 competition being held in Chiang Mai as they convincingly won their first matches with Nepal beating Iran by 221 runs at Gymkhana and Hong Kong defeating Bhutan by nine wickets at Prem.
Thailand won the ACC Women’s Championship when it was contested in Chiang Mai last year by beating China in the final, but Nepal and Hong Kong who finished third and fourth in 2013 will also provide strong opposition as women’s teams at this level play 40-over cricket for the first time.
At Prem, Hong Kong quickly took control against Bhutan after conceding nine wides in the first over, as Ho Hung Ying took a wicket with her first ball and Mariko Hill claimed two wickets in her second over as she suddenly found her line. A partnership of 40 for the fourth wicket followed for Bhutan but the dismissal of captain Dechen Wangmo caught at mid on for 23 proved the decisive moment of the match.
The rest of the Bhutan batting line up was unable to deal with the left-arm spin of Chan Sau Ha who took three wickets in an over on the way to excellent figures of 5 for 19. Bhutan were bowled out for just 80 and Hong Kong’s openers put their side well on the way to victory with a partnership of 49.
To Yee Shan was out for 19 but Yip Sze Wan remained unbeaten on 39 from 57 balls with six fours as she saw her side home to victory by nine wickets with more than 20 overs to spare. Chan Sau Ha was named player of the match for her five wickets.
Nepal completely outclassed Iran at Gymkhana as they scored an impressive 284 for 6 in their 40 overs, Sita Magar scoring 61 and Sarita Magar 72 as they shared a second-wicket partnership of 107 and Neera Rajopadhyay finished the innings strongly with an unbeaten 47.
Iran had suffered from conceding 69 extras in Nepal’s innings and soon matters got worse as both openers were run out as they attempted to chase a target of 285 in 40 overs. There was some resistance from Roya Kaheni who made 17 and Fahimeh Khademabolfazl who batted for over an hour but Sita Magar took four wickets to bowl out Iran for 63. Sita Magar was given the player of the match award as Nepal won by 221 runs.