THAILAND WILL FACE NEPAL IN THE FINAL OF THE SMASH

Thailand will face Nepal in Saturday’s final of the Thailand Women’s T20 Smash 2019 as both teams won their semi-finals, as both teams put runs on the board in the first innings and left it to their formidable bowling attacks to do the rest. Nepal beat Indonesia by 92 runs in the morning match and Thailand defeated UAE by 49 runs in the afternoon.

Nepal had won all four of their matches and had beaten the higher ranked UAE team in the group stages. Nepal were far too strong for Indonesia who compete in the ICC East Asia Pacific Region as they posted a total of 119 for 3 in their 20 overs as Sita Rana Magar made 48 from 62 balls despite hitting only one boundary. Indonesia were dismissed for just 27 in 11.1 overs as Rubina Chhetry returned figures of 4 for 2. Nepal have been travelling to Thailand to take part in tournaments like this for more than a decade so it is fitting that they will be playing in the final.

By contrast, Myanmar’s women’s cricket team are playing in their first international competition so it is highly encouraging for their cricket development that they have beaten Malaysia by four wickets in the play-offs for 5th to 8th places as they reached their target of 101 with just one ball to spare. Thailand face UAE in the second semi-final this afternoon while Thailand A meet Hong Kong in the second tier play-offs.

Nepal will face Thailand in the final as the hosts beat UAE by 49 runs in the second semi-final thanks to an outstanding performance in the field. UAE are Thailand’s closest rivals in this tournament according to the ICC Women’s T20 International Rankings and it looked as if Thailand were under pressure after posting a total of only 91 for 7 in their 20 overs with two run outs derailing their innings.

The Thai girls remained confident as they had defended a total of 78 against the same opponents in the final of the ICC Asian Qualifier a year ago and they were brilliant in the field. Nobody reached double figures for UAE as Chanida Sutthiruang took three wickets with the new ball and Suleeporm Laomi did the rest with her leg-spin as she claimed 4 wickets for 9 in 3.4 overs as UAE were bowled out for 42 in 15.4 overs.

Tomorrow’s final will see the two best teams in the tournament by a considerable margin competing to win the Thailand Women’s T20 Smash. Both Thailand and Nepal have won five matches out of five and whichever team can make it a perfect six will be deserved champions. There are also play-offs for the remaining positions in the tournament as UAE with play Indonesia in the 3rd place play-off.