Pakistan 110 for 1 (Feroza 57, Muneeba 46*) beat Nepal 108 for 6 (Joshi 31*, Magar 26, Iqbal 2-19) by nine wickets

Pakistan kept their Women's Asia Cup campaign alive with a thumping nine-wicket win over Nepal in Dambulla on Sunday evening.

The win boosted Pakistan's net run-rate to 0.409 and lifted them to second position on the points table.

Nepal's positive start

Samjhana Khadka, fresh from her match-winning half-century against UAE, slapped Fatima Sana over extra cover for four on the fourth ball of the innings. But she was late on the pull next ball, and ended up offering a simple catch to Nashra Sandhu at short midwicket.

Iqbal's double-strike puts the brakes on

Nepal's next boundary came in the ninth over when Rubina Chhetry lofted Sandhu down the ground for four. But Chhetry's run-out in the next over kept Nepal in check. Shortly after that, Magar too was run-out while going for a non-existent second run.

Joshi and Mahato help Nepal finish strongly

Feroza, Muneeba ace the chase

If Nepal thought they had posted a decent total, Feroza and Muneeba showed it was anything but. Feroza smashed the first ball of the chase through the covers for four. She hit three more boundaries in the next two overs and moved to 20 off 16 balls. Muneeba had faced just two balls at that stage and was yet to open her account.

Muneeba did struggle for timing initially but did not take too long to hit her stride. In the sixth over, she hit Magar for three fours as Pakistan ended the powerplay on 52 for no loss.

Even when the field restrictions were relaxed, there was no respite for the Nepal bowlers, who not only erred in their lines and lengths but also lacked the backing of their fielders. There was not a single over during the chase that did not feature a boundary.

Feroza alone hit eight fours in the first eight overs, and brought up her maiden T20I fifty off 30 balls. By the time she fell, Pakistan needed just four runs, which Muneeba knocked off with yet another boundary.