DAY 6-THAILAND WIN AGAIN BUT EXCITING FINISH AHEAD IN ICC WOMEN’S ASIA QUALIFIER

The sixth day of the ICC Women’s Asia Qualifier being held in Bangkok saw hosts Thailand move one step closer to claiming the title as they defeated Malaysia by 87 runs at TCG to gain their fifth successive victory and to move onto 10 points ahead of both UAE and Nepal who just held of China by five runs on eight points. Thailand have a considerable advantage on net run-rate but there is still plenty to play for on the final day on Wednesday when Nepal face Kuwait before Thailand and UAE go head to head in the afternoon.

Thailand faced Malaysia knowing they needed to make it five wins out of five and also beat their opponents by a considerable margin to maintain or improve their net run-rate. The hosts also wanted to continue to impose their authority on a competition which brings places at the next two ICC global qualifying events for the tournament winners. With qualification for T20 and 50-over World Cups the ultimate goal for Thailand, every match comes with its own pressure but the Thai girls have won their last 12 T20 Internationals which would make them one of the most successful women’s teams in current world cricket.

Malaysia won the toss and elected to field first as captain Winifred Duraisingam felt the pitch would help her bowlers early in the day. Thailand’s Sornnarin Tippoch confidently stated she was looking for a total of 120 from her side such were the standards her team were aiming to reach. T20 cricket is unpredictable and after carefully playing out five dot balls Nattakan Chantam hit a shorter ball from Duraisingam straight to cover point. Thailand were 0 for 1. Nattaya Boochatham joined Naruemol Chaiwai at the crease and 20 dot balls were bowled in the first four overs. A pair of boundaries in the next two overs meant Thailand were 20 for 1 at the end of the powerplay but the match was more evenly balanced than anticipated.

Naruemol Chaiwai was beginning to bat more freely but her partner Nattaya Boochatham was run out for 7 from 17 balls as Chaiwai tried to rotate the strike. The score was 25 for 2 as Chanida Sutthiruang strode out to the crease and she nervelessly hit her first ball for four through the covers. Thailand were 43 for 2 after 10 overs with Naruemol on 25 and Chanida on 9.

Thailand’s fifty came up in the 11th over and the innings was transformed as four boundaries came in the next three overs, three of them to Naruemol who was now approaching her second fifty of the tournament. The score was moving at a very healthy rate as Thailand were 70 for 2 after 13 overs with 41 coming from the last five overs. With five overs left the score was 81 for 2 and a final total of 120 still a realistic target.

Naruemol Chaiwai has been the most consistent batter in the tournament and she completed her second fifty from 50 balls with five fours. The third-wicket partnership ended on 69 in less than 11 overs as Chanida was caught at long on for 28 from 27 balls with three fours. The hundred came up at the start of the 19th over and Naruemol was showing great stamina to still be able to run a number of twos. Duraisingam took the wicket of Sornnarin from the last ball of her fourth over as Thailand lost their fourth wicket.

Malaysia’s seam bowlers had performed well all morning and Intan deserved the wicket she got from the last ball of the innings as Onnicha Kampchomphu was also bowled. Thailand finished on 114 for 5 with Naremol 64 not out from 66 balls. Malaysia had tried hard in the field and had put real pressure on Thailand during the first six overs of the innings but Naruemol had made sure that her side scored 94 from the next 14 overs. Duraisingam and Intan both took two wickets with their medium pace.

It was Thailand’s spin bowlers who did the damage early in the Malaysia reply as Nattaya bowled Mas Elysa and had Duraisingam caught and bowled. Sornnarin was named player of the match for her figures of 4 for 8 against Kuwait and she continued where she left off with two wickets in her first three balls. Thailand’s captain also claimed Malaysia’s fifth wicket and worse was to follow as leg-spinner Suleeporn Laomi struck with her first ball as a sweep shot was well caught by Nattakan Chantam and she took a second wicket later in the over as Malaysia slumped to 17 for 7.

Suleeporn took her third wicket as Malaysia were eight down and Onnicha took the ninth as but it was left to Sornnarin to take the final wicket as Malaysia were bowled out for 27 in 16 overs. The captain had figures of 4 for 4 from her 4 overs while Suleeporn finished with 3 for 4. Thailand had won their fifth match of the tournament by an imposing 87 runs as they moved on to 10 points in the table and built an almost impregnable advantage in net run-rate.

The afternoon match at TCG saw Nepal face China with both teams starting the day on six points in the table. China had won three matches out of five while Nepal had won three matches out of four so still had a game in hand over and the winner would move up to eight points level with UAE and two points behind leaders Thailand.

China were happy to win the toss and bowl first as their bowling attack has been one of the most effective in the tournament. Nepal’s openers made a steady start as they shared a partnership of 32 in nine overs before both Kajal Shreshta and Sita Rana Magar fell to the impressive Chinese spinners. Indu Barma and Bindu Rawal continued to make slow progress as the fifty came up with only two wickets down but the run-rate never accelerated beyond four runs an over.

Nepal’s final total was 77 for 9 in 20 overs as opening bowler Wang Meng came back to take 2 for 13 and leg-spinner Han Lili claimed 2 for 14. China overcame Hong Kong’s total of 86 in an earlier match with the last pair at the wicket so we were in for an interesting chase.

Nepal’s two left-arm spinners had shared eight wickets in the last match and Sita Rana Magar took the first two wickets as China were rocked back at 10 for two in the fifth over particularly as their captain Huang Zhuo was well caught at mid-on by Rubina Chhetry. The third wicket fell on 20 as Song Fengfeng was run out but Zhou Caiyun and Zheng Mei made a good job of rebuilding the innings and resisting the other Nepal spinners, particularly Nary Thapa who had taken 6 for 8 n her last match.

The run-rate never reached the required rate as Zhou Caiyun found rotating the strike very difficult. Her long vigil ended on 18 from 61 balls but she had done her best to bring China back into the game. Han Lili immediately went for her shots but became Sita Rana Magar’s third victim when she was brought back to bowl the last over. Zhang Mei then hit the fourth ball of the 20^th over for four and suddenly eight runs were needed from two balls for a super-over. She managed a two and a one but was run out for 33 and China ended five runs short on 72 for 6.

It was a match China probably should have won but they finished their campaign with three wins out of six and will finish in fourth place, while Nepal now have eight points and should finish in second or third place depending on tomorrow’s results. They will look to move to ten points by beating Kuwait and see what happens in the match between Thailand and UAE.

The other match of the sixth day was played at AIT and saw two teams without a win meet as Hong Kong faced Kuwait. It was a rather one-sided contest as Hong Kong bowled out their opponents for just 25 in only 10 overs. Eight Kuwait players were dismissed for ducks as their tournament went from bad to worse. Priyada Murali made 12 while Sabreen Zaki hit five as Kary Chan took 3 for 2 and Mahreen Yousaf collected three wickets in an over without conceding a run. Hong Kong needed 6.1 overs to reach their target as Yasmin Daswani was unbeaten on 13 and Priyada Murali took the only wicket. Hong Kong finally gained their first win but Kuwait definitely had a day to forget.

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