NARUEMOL CHAWAI TAKES THAILAND TO 3-0 LEAD IN ODI SERIES AGAINST NETHERLANDS

Thailand women have defeated Netherlands women by 99 runs at Royal Chiang Mai as they have won all three matches to take an unassailable lead in the four match ODI series. It was a convincing performace from the Thailand side who had been made to work hard in their previous match. Today they showed the difference in class between the two teams.

Natthakan Chantham made 55 then captain Naruemol Chawai almost batted to the end of the innings as she made 65 from 102 balls with four fours as Thailand posted 227. Then the captain rotated her spinners expertly as Netherlands were bowled out for 128 with Sulleeporn Laomi and Sornnarin Tippoch sharing seven wickets.

Thailand women were looking to gain their third victory of the four-match ODI and Netherlands won the toss on a cloudy morning at Royal Chiang Mai and asked Thailand to bat first. 20 runs came from the fourth over bowled by leg-spinner Caroline de Lange as Natthakan Chantham hit her for two fours and a six but the faster bowlers kept things tight in the powerplay. Iris Zwilling claimed two early wickets thanks to her ability to swing the ball as she dismissed Sornnarin Tippoch and Nannapat Khoncharoenkai both missing well-pitched deliveries.

Thailand were 41 for two at the end of the powerplay but Naruemol Chaiwai was able to stay at the crease with Natthakan Chantham who had scored 102 and 42 in her two previous innings in the series. The pair brought up the Thailand 100 and Chantham reached another fifty with six fours and a six.

Hannah Landheer suddenly took two wickets in two balls as she also was able to swing the ball and had Chantham caught down the leg-side for 55 and Chanida Sutthiruang was bowled for nought as the score declined to 120 for 4 in the 29th over.

Thailand’s captain played a perfect anchor role to show that her team did had depth in their batting once Chantham was out. She was well supported by Suleeporn Laomi who made 15 and particularly by Rosenanee Kanoh who hit 38 from 33 balls with 7 fours. Batting steadily until the 46th over she hit her first fifty in ODI cricket and reached 65 from 102 balls with four fours before being sixth out with the total on 217.

There was a late collapse against Zwilling and Landheer who shared nine wickets in the innings. Zwilling had bowled an opening spell of 6-2-14-2 and returned to pick up late wickets to finish with figures of 5 for 25 the second best for Netherlands Women in ODIs which they first played in 1984. Landheer returned figures of 4 for 43 as Thailand lost ther last five wickets for just 10 runs as they were dismissed for 227 in 48.4 overs.

There were a few spots of drizzle between the innings so Thailand would have to keep an eye on the Duckworth / Lewis par score with Netherlands only needing to reach 52 for 0 in the first 20 overs but the target woulf get progressively ore difficult as wickets started to fall.

As had happened in the two earlier matches Netherlands openers Babette de Leede and Sterre Kallis gave their side a very solid start as they hit 44 runs from the first 10 overs. But the balance of power started to change in the 12th over when de Leede was caught at deep mid-wicket off Onnicha Kamchomphu for 30 off 34 balls to make the score 47 for one.

Netherlands were still looking to be ahead on the DL comparison after 20 overs and they achieved their first target as they reached 68 for 1 to be six runs ahead. Just one ball later the situation had changed as Sterre Kalis was caught at mid-off from the bowling of Sornnarin Tippoch for 19 from 52 balls and Netherlands were now behind their target with two wickets down.

Thailand’s five spinners again combined well to restrict Netherlands in the middle overs of their innings but the magical moment of the match probably came when Nattaya Boochatham picked up the ball and threw in one movement and a direct hit saw the run out of Iris Zwilling. By the end of 30 overs Thailand were well on top as Netherlands were 102 for 6.

Netherlands captain Heather Siegers hit out well with 32 from 33 balls with 3 fours and a six but it was a lone effort towards the end as Suleeporn Laomi again proved too much for the tail-enders with her leg spin to claim figures of 4 for 26. Sornnarin Tippoch had taken the key wicket of Sterre Kalis and she also took the final wicket as Netherlands were bowled out for 128 in 38.4 overs as they collapsed from 68 for 1 in 20 overs.

After a comfortable victory in the first ODI, Thailand had to work hard to claim an 8-run victory in the second match, but they have given a more complete performance today with contributions from several players as they defeated Netherlands by 99 runs to take a 3-0 lead in the four-match series.

The final match of the ODI series will be played at Royals on Saturday 26th November and the two teams will also play a four-,atch T20I series next week.