Nepal-W vs Uganda-W, 4th T20I Review: Hosts bounce back stronger to pull one back on Uganda

Nepal Women marked a brilliant comeback, even after losing the series, as they defeated Uganda Women by 15 runs to win the fourth T20I of the five-match series. Saving themselves from a humiliating white-wash, Nepal Women restricted Uganda Women from chasing their low total after the game was cut short to 18-overs-a-side due to wet outfield.

Winning the toss, Nepal opted to bat first. They had a dreamy start to their inning as opening batter Jyoti Pandey started targeting the fence from the word go. While her partner Bindu Rawal faced nine balls in the first three overs scoring no runs, Pandey was on a roll. After a quick 29/0 in three overs, Uganda came back well as Janet Mbabazi scalped the in-form Pandey for a 13-ball 17 to give her side the early breakthrough.

Indu Barma, who replaced Pandey in the top order, had to walk back scoring just a single run as Concy Aweko managed to dismiss her in the very next over. Rawal and Sita Rana Magar steadied the ship for a short while but the latter was dismissed for a tragic run-out. Uganda bowlers barely gave away any runs and kept picking wickets at regular intervals thereby dishing out the Nepal line-up on the penultimate ball of the first innings for 97 runs.

Nepal break Uganda’s winning momentum

Uganda had the upper hand throughout the first inning, and having chased higher totals in the previous games, it looked like this was a piece of cake for them. But Nepal made it a challenging task for them. Giving away just 21 runs in the first six overs, Nepal bowlers had managed to pick two early wickets to get the early breakthrough. While Leona Babirye was dismissed for an eight-ball duck, Kevin Awino was run out scoring an 18-ball 11 runs.

Janet Mbabazi and Rita Nyangendo anchored the innings for a long time, as they sailed through the bowlers for almost eight overs in the middle before the former was scalped by Hiranmayee Roy. It became even more difficult for Uganda towards the end when they faced a mini-collapse, losing five wickets in the final four overs. They were successful in breaking Uganda’s momentum as they restricted them to 82/8 at the end of 18 overs in order to win the game by 15 runs.