Pakistan field in must-win game against confident Nepal

Report

A win will put Nepal in the semi-finals along with India

A win over Pakistan will put Nepal in the semi-finals  •  Asian Cricket Council

Toss Pakistan chose to bowl vs Nepal

Pakistan captain Nida Dar won the toss and opted to bowl first against Nepal in a must-win game for her side at the Women’s Asia Cup 2024.

Dar said that since Pakistan had lost batting first against India, they wanted to bowl first here. They made one change, bringing in allrounder Omaima Sohail for middle-order batter Iram Javed.

Nepal, too, strengthened their batting. They replaced Sabnam Rai, who bowls both medium pace and offspin, with wicketkeeper-batter Roma Thapa. If Nepal win tonight, they – as well as India – will be through to the semi-finals.

The match is being played on the same surface where India beat UAE earlier in the day. Each boundary is around 59 metres out but wind could play a key role. During the first game, it changed direction a couple of times, something both Nepal and Pakistan will need to keep a close eye on.

Nepal: 1 Samjhana Khadka, 2 Sita Rana Magar, 3 Kabita Kunwar, 4 Indu Barma (capt), 5 Rubina Chhetry, 6 Puja Mahato, 7 Kajal Shrestha (wk), 8 Roma Thapa, 9 Kabita Joshi, 10 Bindu Rawal, 11 Kritika Marasini

Pakistan: 1 Gull Feroza, 2 Muneeba Ali (wk), 3 Sidra Amin, 4 Nida Dar (capt), 5 Aliya Riaz, 6 Omaima Sohail, 7 Fatima Sana, 8 Tuba Hassan, 9 Sadia Iqbal, 10 Nashra Sandhu, 11 Syeda Aroob Shah

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo