USA ended as tournament champions in Rwanda, but the opportunity for them to exact revenge on the hosts for their only loss in the tournament was diffused by rain that eventually forced both sides off the field to end the match with no result. 

Photo credit: ICC

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
USA Women’s opportunity to exact revenge on Rwanda for their only loss of the tournament at the ICC Women’s Challenge Trophy was negated by persistent rain on Friday morning as the last day showdown ended with no result after 15.3 overs due to rain. USA had won the toss and chosen to bat first, struggling to a total of 62 for 4 before a steady drizzle that had been coming down for more than half the innings intensified to a level that caused the umpires to take players off the field. The rain never ceased, forcing the match to be called off before USA had a chance to defend their total. 
 
The result had no impact on USA, who had already clinched the tournament title with a win over Italy on Thursday. For Rwanda, it meant they eventually finished in third place after Nepal crushed Italy by eight wickets to claim a full two points and move past Rwanda into second place. Italy posted a total of 36 for 6 in a match reduced to 7 overs due to the rain that carried into the afternoon. Nepal chased the target in just 3.3 overs. The pair of results meant that USA ended the tournament at #22 in the ICC Women’s T20I rankings after having started the event at #24. USA briefly moved ahead of Nepal to be at #21 but Nepal’s win over Italy moved them back ahead of USA on the rankings table. 
 
Facing the team that gave USA their only loss earlier in the tournament, USA’s batting unit once again struggled against Rwanda’s disciplined bowling unit after choosing to bat first. Sainavi Kambalapalli could not continue her form from the win over Italy 24 hours earlier, getting out for 6 in the second over when she was given lbw after missing a sweep to offspinner Rosine Irera. 
 
Isani Vaghela entered at No. 3 and struggled to get going, sitting on 11 off 24 balls after playing out a maiden to left-arm spinner Ruth Uwimana in the seventh as USA sat at 23 for 1. Dot ball pressure finally resulted in two more wickets for Irera in the 12^th. Chetna Pagydyala was given out lbw for 17 after missing a flick across the line before Pooja Ganesh was stumped for a second-ball duck after being beaten in flight charging down the wicket to make it 45 for 3.
 
After reaching 17 off 36 balls with batting conditions difficult as more rain got into the wicket, Vaghela finally started to find rhythm by scoring off eight consecutive balls, including a boundary driven through mid-off in the 14^th. But she gave her wicket away heaving across the line to Rwanda captain Marie Bimenyimana for 29 off 45 balls in the 15^th to make it 61 for 4 in what ended up being a wicket maiden. 
 
Gargi Bhogle’s single tapped off Henriette Ishimwe wound up being the last run scored by USA in the tournament before the umpires finally decided that the rain had become too heavy and took the players off for good. Bhogle ended on 6 not out while Aditi Chudasama had yet to score. Irera finished with 3 for 16 off her four overs while Bimenyimana took 1 for 11 off three. 
 
USA Women’s vice-captain Pagydyala finished as the leading scorer in the event with 261 runs in eight innings at an average of 37.28. Nepal’s Kabita Kunwar and Vanuatu’s Vanessa Vira tied for the lead in wickets with 15.