Rubina Chhetry’s blockbuster show powers Nepal to a thumping victory over Maldives
We are witnessing thrilling performances in the ongoing ACC Women’s Premier Cup. The 21-year-old left-arm pacer from Japan Ahilya Chandel created history as she became the first player from the country and overall the fourth player to bag a double hat-trick (four wickets in four balls) against China. Skipper Kary Chan and Mariko Hill claimed the top two spots in the highest individual scores for Hong Kong.
On 13th February (Tuesday) we witnessed another such record being surpassed when the 30-year-old all-rounder from Nepal Rubina Chhetry smashed her maiden century in the T20I format and also recorded the highest individual score for Nepal in the T20I format.
Nepal led by skipper Indu Barma and the Maldives led by skipper Sumayya Abdul were all set to come up against each other in the 24th match of the tournament. Nepal skipper Indu Barma won the toss and opted to bat first. The openers got off to a flying start scoring at 14 runs an over before Shamma Ali struck twice in two balls to land a double blow for Nepal. Rubina Chhetry joined Sita Rana Magar at the crease and the duo stitched a 15-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Shamma Ali picked up the wicket of Sita Rana Magar to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Maldives. Dolly Bhatta soon followed her back to the pavilion and Nepal found themselves struggling at 61/4 in the 7th over of the innings. Puja Mahato joined Rubina Chhetry at the crease and the duo smashed the Maldives bowlers all over the park as they posted a commendable total on the board (227/4) on the back of a massive 5th wicket partnership of 166 runs.
Rubina Chhetry smashed her maiden T20I century and also recorded the highest individual score (118* off 59 balls) for Nepal in the T20I format surpassing Sita Rana Magar’s (82* off 72 balls) Vs Qatar in 2021. She was also the top performer for Nepal with the bat alongside Puja Mahato (59* off 36 balls). Shamma Ali was the top performer (3/44) with the ball for Maldives.
Chasing a humongous target of 228, the Maldives batting unit succumbed heavily to the scoreboard pressure as they were bundled our for just 13 runs in the 14th over of the run chase to seal a massive 214-run victory over Maldives. None of the Maldives batters managed to enter into the double digits. They recorded the 9th lowest total in a Women’s T20I.
Ashmina Karmacharya (4-2-7-4), Rubina Chhetry (3.5-2-2-3), and Puja Mahato (3-1-2-3) were the top performers with the ball for Nepal.