lucky cola ICC Women's U-19 T20 World Cup 2025: Nepal Beat Malaysia By 7 Wickets In 4th Place Play-Off 2 match

Nepal Women U19 clinched a 7-wicket victory over the hosts Malaysia to end their ICC Women's U-19 T20 World Cup 2025 campaign with a win on Friday, January 24at the JCA Oval - Dato Dr. Harjit Singh Johor Cricket Academy, Johor Bahru. (More Cricket News)

The low-scoring 4th place play-off match saw Nepal chasing down a modest target of 46 runs with nine overs to spare.

Batting first, Malaysia Women U19 were skittled out for just 45 runs in 16.5 overs. Their innings struggled to gain momentum against Nepal's disciplined bowling attack led by skipper Puja Mahato who picked 4 wickets conceding only 9 runs in 3.5 overs. Rachana Chaudhary also helped with 3/5 bowling figure.

Malaysia's Marsya Qistina Abdullah showed some resistance with 15 runs but it remianed the only double didgit score from the hosts side.

Chasing a meager target, Nepal had a nervy start as they lost three quick wickets inside the powerplay.

However, opener Puja Mahato held her ground and anchored the innings with an unbeaten 23 off 32 balls. This, coupled with a cameo from Seemana KC (4 not out), ensured there were no further hiccups in the chase. The pair added a crucial partnership that sealed the win in just 11 overs.

From the Malaysian bowling lineup, Marsya Qistina impressed with 3/18 but lacked support.

Hosts Malaysia were placed in a tough group with India, Sri Lanka and West Indies. They could never find their feet against the three heavyweights and lost all of their matches by heavy margins. They were bowled out for 23 by Sri Lanka, 31 by India and 59 by West Indies earlier in the group stage.

The Harmanpreet Singh-led side scored its first goal just in the second minute of the match via Sukhjeet Singh. This was in fact the first significant chance created in the match by any side.

Nepal had lost to Bangladesh and Australia comprehensively but against Scotland, they came really close to winning. However, the Nepal women managed to avoid the last place in the standings with a crucial victory on Friday.

Puja Mahato was honored with the Player of the Match for her all-round performance, which included a match-winning spell of 3-7 and her crucial unbeaten knock.

With this victory, Nepal Women U19 finished the tournament on a high note, claiming atleast one victory. Nevertheless, for Malaysia Women U19, it was a tough end to the competitionlucky cola, but they can take valuable lessons from their campaign.