DAY 5 –   UAE AND NEPAL KEEP PRESSURE ON HOSTS AFTER THAILAND BEAT KUWAIT BY NINE WICKETS

The fifth day of the ICC Women’s Asia Qualifier being held in Bangkok until 27^th February saw hosts Thailand make it four wins out of four to retain their place at the top of the table as they defeated Kuwait by nine wickets after bowling them out for 38. Thailand moved on to eight points and knew that the winner of the other morning match between UAE and China would join them on eight points as both teams had won three matches out of four and it was UAE who recovered to win by 27 runs. UAE are hoping they can beat Thailand in their last match and overtake the hosts on net run-rate. Nepal made it three wins out of four with a hard fought victory over Hong Kong in the afternoon match and they will still finish in a high position in the table if they win their last two matches.

Thailand began the day looking to extend their advantage at the top of the table but the hosts need to win all their remaining matches if they are to be certain of winning the competition and to make sure of a place at each of the next two ICC global qualifying competitions. With today’s results UAE and Nepal have ensured that hosts Thailand cannot afford to perform below their high standards.

After choosing to bat first at AIT, Kuwait could not have got off to a worse start against Thailand as their captain and most experienced player Maryam Omar was out lbw to the first ball of the day as Chanida Sutthiruang bowled a perfect in-swinger to the right-hander. The rest of the Kuwait batting now needed to stand up to be counted and they certainly tried their best.

Priyada Murali and Amna Tariq took the score to 10 after five overs before Amna skied to the keeper and Priyada fell lbw. Siobhan Gomez pulled a four off a Suleeporn Laomi full toss but was out caught next ball attempting a similar shot. Sornanarin Tippoch took two more wickets in her third over as Kuwait were 27 for six after 10 overs. Sabreen Zaki bravely tried to help her team despite still limping badly but she could only loft the ball straight to long on as Sornnarin finished with figures of 4-1-8-4 even though she bowled three wides.

Kuwait were 37 for 7 after 15 overs and Suleeporn Laomi claimed the next wicket as Maria Jasvi was caught at cover and she followed by having Marryam Ashraf caught behind by Naruemol Chaiwai next ball and number 11 then played and missed to avoid the hat-trick. Zeefa Jilani survived the over as Suleeporn returned figures of 3 for 11. Iqra Ishaq managed a single off the second ball of the next over only for Zeefa to be bowled by Nattaya Boochatham as Kuwait were dismissed for 38 in 16.3 overs. A harsh learning exercise for Kuwait but at least none of their batters gave their wickets away and all tried to survive as long as possible.

Thailand gained a convincing nine-wicket victory over Kuwait as they reached their target in 7.2 overs as they finished on 41 for 1. Nattakan Chantam was the only wicket to fall as she was lbw to Amna Tariq for 10. Naruemol Chaiwai continued her excellent tournament as she reached 14 from 20 balls and Nattaya Boochatham was unbeaten on 9 at the close. Thailand have now won four matches out of four and stand at the top of the table with only two matches still to play against Malaysia and UAE. Thailand need to win both of those matches to be absolutely certain of qualification for the next two global qualifying tournaments and to emphasize to ICC that they continue to be the dominant force in women’s cricket in the Asian Region.

UAE kept up the pressure on Thailand as they defeated China by 27 runs in the other morning match at TCG. UAE now have four wins from five matches and will face Thailand in their final match knowing that victory over the hosts could still give them a chance of winning the competition. China were level on points with UAE at the start of the day and were highly confident when they won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Three wins in a row has revitalized Chinese cricket and UAE’s first two wickets fell without a run on the board as Wu Juan took two wickets in two balls in the second over but the veteran Sri Lankan Chamani Seneviratne came to the crease and she rebuilt the innings in partnership with Esha Oza.(13) and Chaya Mughal (14). Chamani hit 32 from 37 balls and UAE looked to be in a strong position at 60 for 3. Spinners Han Lili and Li Haoye took two wickets apiece to check UAE’s progress but a final total of 95 for 9 was a useful one given the poor start to their innings.

China’s batting is not as strong as their formidable bowling attack and they were soon 13 for 4 and very much on the back foot particularly as captain Huang Zhou was dismissed for 0 with Subha Ventakataraman on her way to figures of 3 for 2. Number 3 bat Zhou Caiyun batted sensibily for 17 and Han Lili and Liu Jie extended the innings before Hurmaira Tasneem took the last two wickets. China were bowled out for 68 in 19.5 overs and UAE won by 27 runs and kept their hopes of winning the Asia Qualifier alive.

The afternoon match at AIT saw Nepal take on Hong Kong. Nepal have won two out of their three matches and had a convincing victory over UAE in their last contest so they still have a chance of reaching 10 points if they win their last three matches, while Hong Kong are still looking for their first victory after losing their first three matches.

Hong Kong made a steady start as their openers Bella Poon and Yasmin Daswani took the score to 23 in seven overs before the first wicket fell as Bella Poon was caught by Rubina Chhetry off the left-arm spin of Nary Thapa for 11. The steady start was rather misleading as the left-arm spinner quickly worked her way through the Hong Kong batting order with Daswani out for 16 caught by Sarita Magar. Nary Thapa spun her web of deceit so effectively that 23 for 0 became 35 for 6 with Thapa claiming the best figures of the tournament with 6 for 8.

With her spell finished calm returned to the Hong Kong innings as Marina Lamplough put together a sensible innings before she was bowled by Sita Rana Magar for 19 from 24 balls. No more wickets fell until Sita Rana Magar took her second wicket from the last ball of the innings as Hong Kong finished on 62 for eight with all eight wickets falling to left-arm spin. Nary Thapa had given the outstanding bowling performance of the tournament so far to put her side in a very strong position.

Nepal chased a low total very easily in their previous match against UAE but they were soon under pressure as they attempted to overcome Hong Kong’s total of 62. Jasmine Titmuss took the new ball and removed both openers with only six runs on the board and Hong Kong’s spinners also bowled accurately as four wickets were down for 24 after 10 overs with Nepal still requiring 39 runs from 10 overs.

Apsari Begam steadied Nepal’s nerves with a good combination of singles and boundaries as the score moved on to 49 for 4 with five overs left. The impressive pace bowler Titmuss returned to claim Begam’s wicket for a valuable 24 from 35 balls with 3 fours and captain Mariko Hill took the sixth wicket with Nepal still needing four runs.

Nepal finally reached their target with 1.3 overs to spare as they finished on 63 for 6 in 18.3 overs to win by 4 wickets. The pacy Titmuss returned the impressive figures of 3.3-0-11-3 but it wasn’t quite enough as Nepal made it three wins out of four and Hong Kong are still waiting for their first win of the tournament. Thailand are in first place in the table ahead of UAE on net run-rate with both teams on eight points while Nepal are just behind on six points level with China.

Thailand face Malaysia in the morning match at TCG knowing that a convincing victory would put then within touching distance of the title as they could build an unassailable advantage on net run-rate. Nepal will claim a place in the top three if they beat China later in the day while Hong Kong face Kuwait at AIT knowing that the winners will gain their long-awaited first victory of the tournament.

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