KUALA LAMPUR: Puja Mahato backed up her brilliant bowling figures of 2/27 with a bruising knock of 47 runs and led Nepal to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Pakistan in the fourth match of the ACC Women’s Under-19 Asian Cup 2024 .
The Green Shirts, who suffered a second defeat in a row, were knocked out of the tournament, paving the way for Nepal and arch-rivals India to attack in the Super Four stage.
Pakistan will now face either Bangladesh or Nepal in the fifth place match on Wednesday.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan’s batting unit once again faltered as they could only yield 104 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Opening batsman Komal Khan fought a lone battle for the Greenshirts as she top-scored with a cautious 38 off 43 deliveries, laced with two boundaries.
Besides her, Maham Anees (29*), Ravail Farhan (13) and Zoofishan Ayyaz (12) accumulated double figures.
Mahato led Nepal’s bowling attack with two wickets while Rachana Chaudhary, Riya Sharma and Seemana KC took a scalp each.
Chasing a modest target of 105 runs, Nepal comfortably knocked out the winning runs, losing just four wickets and six balls to spare.
Leading the way was captain Mahato, who scored the best goal with an unbeaten 47 from as many deliveries, comprising three boundaries.
Seemana, who scored an unbeaten 12 in as many deliveries, also made a notable contribution in the chase.
For Pakistan, Quratulain Ahsen and Fatima Khan could take one wicket each.
