Nov 06, Kathmandu- In the Asian qualifiers of the ICC Women's U-19 World Cup, Nepal got off to a good start in the competition by defeating Thailand.

In the match held at The Seven Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nepal defeated Thailand by a wide margin of 67 runs and got off to a pleasant start in the opening match of the tournament.

Chasing the target of one hundred and three runs presented by Nepal, Thailand lost all the wickets in 11.4 overs and was reduced to 35 runs. Apart from Aphisara Suwanchonrathi scoring 13 runs for Thailand, other players could not score runs in double figures.

For Nepal, Rachana Kumari Chaudhary alone took four wickets while captain Pooja Mahato and Rhea Sharma took two wickets each. Similarly, Karisma Gurung and Manishakumari Upadhyay took one wicket each.

Before that, after losing the toss and being invited to bat first, Nepal lost 6 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs and made a total of 120 runs. Pooja Mahato contributed the most for Nepal with 35 runs. He scored 35 runs in 40 balls with the help of three fours and one six. Similarly, Seemana KC and Soni Pakhrin scored 19/19 runs.

Charukan Saima took two wickets and Sunisa Bongkodphongampai took one wicket for Thailand.

Nepal, Kuwait and Thailand along with the organizer UAE are participating in this competition which will last till 29th of OcKartiktober. Among the four participating teams, the top ranked team will qualify for the World Cup. Nepal will play their second match against Kuwait tomorrow. The World Cup cricket tournament will be held in Malaysia next year.