THAILAND WOMEN SEE OFF CHALLENGE OF UAE TO WIN ASIA QUALIFER

Thailand have been crowned champions of the ICC Women’s World T20 Asia Qualifier held in Bangkok as they beat newcomers at this level UAE by 22 runs after defending a total of 78. Thailand confirmed their superiority in the region at this level by winning their third Asian World T20 qualifying competition but there was no doubt that player of the match and player of the tournament was UAE’s Nisha Ali who today took four wickets in four balls and finished as the competition’s leading run-scorer and wicket-taker with 90 runs and 12 wickets.
Thailand won the toss in the final at TCG as they may have preferred to bat first after losing six wickets in chasing a target of 35 against Hong Kong on the day before. The most fluent player in the Thai batting line-up Nattakan Chantam soon came up against Nisha Ali who had already won three player of the match awards and bowled the second over and she struck an early blow as Nattakan was caught behind for just 2.
Nattaya Boochatham came to the crease with plenty of time to show off the qualities that allowed her to score two fifties in the qualifying competition for the 50-over Women’s World Cup in Sri Lanka earlier this year. She shared useful partnerships with Naruemol Chaiwai and Nannapat Khoncharoenkai as Thailand moved on to 70 for 3 but once Nattaya had gone for 26 from 45 balls, Nisha Ali came back to finish the innings off in style.
The off-spinner claimed four wickets in four balls over the course of two overs as her first three victims tried to hit out only to be caught in the outfield and number 11 Suleeporn Laomi was bowled as Thailand lost seven wickets for eight runs and Nisha Ali finished with figures of 5 for 7.
A target of 79 in 20 overs was just within range for UAE as they had made 79 for 7 to hold off Nepal and then 81 for 2 batting second to beat Hong Kong. Thailand’s bowling has been extremely accurate throughout the tournament as they have conceded under two runs an over but they would face quite a test from a confident UAE team.
Thailand’s bowlers were again up to that test as Esha Oza was bowled by Chanida Sutthiruang for 6 as UAE could only score 12 in the first six overs. Nattaya Boochatham had Priyanjali Jain caught at mid-on but the decisive moment of the match came when Nisha Ali took off for a single only for opener Roopa Nagraj to remain unmoved and UAE’s star player was run out for just 1. The outstanding all-rounder simply said it wasn’t her day when asked about that run out as she felt she would see her side home to victory.
Nagraj did her best to anchor the innings as she made 27 from 53 balls but the big-hitters in the UAE middle-order couldn’t make an impact. Chanida finished with 2 for 14, Nattaya with 2 for 10 and captain Sornnarin Tippoch appropriately took a wicket with the last ball of her spell.
UAE could hit only two boundaries in their 20 overs as they were restricted to 56 for 9 and Nattaya Boochatham did her best to emulate Nisha Ali by taking 10 wickets for 27 in the tournament and playing a crucial innings in the final. The old adage is to look to put runs on the board in a final and Nattaya had played a vital role in doing just that and then ensuring Thailand defended their target to win by 22 runs.
Both teams will be looking to make a considerable impact in the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier in Netherlands in June with the ultimate aim of winning a place in the ICC Women’s World T20 which will be staged in West Indies in November 2018.

The play-off for third place was contested between Nepal who had finished third in the table and Hong Kong who finished fourth and it was Nepal who took the honours as they claimed a comfortable victory by 36 runs. Nepal gained some consolation for missing out on reaching the after suffering defeat to UAE by only five runs. Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field and the move seemed to have paid dividends as captain Mariko Hill, who had taken 3 for 17 the previous day against Thailand, claimed the wickets of both openers, Jyoti Pandey and Sita Magar.
Left-hander Nary Thapa came to the crease at a precarious position of 7 for 2 but was soon into her stride and found useful support from Kujal Shrestra as the score reached 37 for 2 after 10 overs.
Shrestra was out soon afterwards but Thapa continued in fine fashion as she hit five boundaries in her 38 from 34 balls. Karuna Bhandari and Rubina Chhetry batted well at the end of the innings to score 22 in the last three overs so Nepal would have been confident of defending a total of 94 for 5.
Hong Kong struggled from the start and Bhandari took the most important wicket when she dismissed Mariko Hill who had made 48 in an earlier match. Wickets fell regularly and Bhandari returned the best figures with 3 for 10 in her 4 overs and there were three run outs as Hong Kong’s lower order found run-scoring a difficult proposition.
Hong Kong were bowled out for 58 from 19.5 overs as Nepal showed what might have been with an impressive victory by 36 runs. Nepal’s tournament had started with two abandoned matches and they lost unexpectedly to UAE but they finished the tournament strongly with three wins and have plenty of hope for the future.