Mumbai: India on Thursday defeated Nepal by seven wickets in the fourth T20 despite captain Binita Pun’s show with the bat here at Police Gymkhana Cricket Ground in the first-ever Fedfina Women’s Bilateral Cricket Series for the Blind 2023.
Put into bat first, Nepal scored 165/6 in the allotted 20 overs. Sushma Patel, Ravanni, Basanti Hansda and Simu Das all scored as India chased down the target in the 19th over. With this win, India clinched the five match series 3-1 with last match to go on Friday.
Batting first, Binita Pun, who has been the highest run scorer in the ongoing series, provided Nepal a firing start. Mankeshi Chaudhary and Binita built a 101-run stand in the first 12 overs.
Binta (69) departed in the 14th over leaving Nepal at 116/2 but Srijana Pariyar continued the scoreboard. However, India bounced back in the game with flurry of wickets as Nepal lost 4 batters in the last four overs and were only able to score 165/6 after a good start.
Chasing 166, Sushma Patel and Ravanni completed India’s fifty inside six overs. But Ravanni was sent back to the dugout in the seventh over by Prativa Rai. Sushma and Basanti Hansda then stitched a 66-run stand to continue India’s chase.
India lost Sushma and Basanti Hansda in the 14th and 16th over respectively but that didn’t dent the chase and the side chased down the target quite comfortably in the 19th over.
Sushma Patel, who scored 45 runs in 37 balls, was adjudged as the Player of the Match. India and Nepal will now meet in the fifth T20 on Friday. Having already won the series 3-1, the Friday’s T20 will be a dead rubber.
India had won the first two T20s but Nepal came back in the third game on Wednesday, denying India a series win. However, India on Thursday won the fourth T20 to clinch the series with 3-1 with one match to go.
