Chhetri claims hat-trick as Nepal defeat Kuwait

Nepal skipper Rubina Chhetri Belbasbhi and her Kuwait counterpart Mariam Omar (left) exchanging the memento in Bangkok on Wednesday. Photo Courtesy: CAT

Kathmandu, February 27

Skipper Rubina Chhetri Belbasbhi took a hat-trick as Nepal defeated Kuwait by 30 runs in the ICC Women’s Qualifier Asia in Bangkok today.

Nepal registered their fifth victory in the seven-team tournament but failed to finish at the top spot to earn berths in the Twenty20 and 50-over World Cup Qualifiers.

Thailand qualified for the World Cup Qualifiers with perfect record of six victories.

Chhetri Belbashi stole the limelight taking a hat-trick in the last three balls of the match. She bowled Khadija Khalib out for one run in the fourth ball of the final over before earning similar decisions over Madeeha Zuberi and Zeefa Jilani. Chhetri recorded her second and fourth overall by Nepali bowlers.

Chhetri had taken hattrick on her way to taking five wickets against Singapore in the ACC Twenty20 Women’s Championship in Malaysia in 2009. Karuna Bhandari claimed treble against Thailand in the ACC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Kuwait in 2011. Sabnam Rai had taken hat-trick against China in the ICC Women’s World T20 Asia Region Qualifier last year.

Batting first, Nepal posted 116-7 in 20 overs before restricting Kuwait to 86-9. Skipper Mariam Omar top scored for Kuwait with 29 runs.

Chhetri Belbashi returned with the figures of 3-17, while Karuna Bhandari claimed 3-12. Nary Thapa and Kabita Kunwar bagged one wicket each.

Earlier, Chhetri scored 22 off just 13 balls hitting three boundaries, while Bindu Rawal top scored with 28 runs, while Kajal Shrestha contributed 18. Former skipper Nary Thapa struck three boundaries in scoring 19 runs.

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