THAILAND LOSE NARROWLY TO HOSTS QATAR IN ICC MEN’S T20 WORLD CUP ASIAN QUALIFIER B

THAILAND LOSE NARROWLY TO HOSTS QATAR IN ICC MEN’S T20 WORLD CUP ASIAN QUALIFIER B

Thailand faced home side Qatar in the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier B and gave a good account of themselves against a side rated much higher in the T20 rankings but lost by five wickets.

Thailand reached 122 for 7 in their 20 overs after being put into bat after Qatar won the toss, as Akshaykumar Yadav played the anchor role for 37 from 47 balls after the loss of two early wickets but Sorawat Desungnoen hit a bright 26 from 19 balls with two sixes, before Nitish Salekar made an unbeaten 28 from 23 balls on his debut to see Thailand past the 100 and on to 122 for 7.

This suddenly looked a competitive total as South African veteran Jandre Coetzee took a wicket first ball and Salekar matched him by also taking a wicket in his first over in international cricket.

Left-arm spinner Nopphon Senamontree claimed the third wicket as Qatar had only reached 32 for 3 in the seventh over to give Thailand hopes of victory. A fourth-wicket stand of 76 in less than eight overs between Mohammad Ahraff and Mohammad Tanveer put the home side back in control but both fell in the later stages as Ahraff made 50 and Tanveer 48.

Qatar finished on 123 for 5 to win by five wickets with 2.4 overs to spare but Thailand still have five more matches to play in this tournament and face Cambodia tomorrow who reached the final of the ACC T20 Challenger Cup played in Bangkok earlier in the year.