UAE REWRITE THE SCRIPT AS THEY OUTPLAY HONG KONG

UAE REWRITE THE SCRIPT AS THEY OUTPLAY HONG KONG


At the start of the fourth day of the Asia Qualifier being played in Bangkok, wins for both Thailand and Hong Kong would have confirmed that they would have in the final of this competition and would have also booked their places in the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier which will be held in Netherlands next year. Thailand were able to win their match as they beat China by eight wickets but UAE then completely rewrote the script by defeating Hong Kong by the same margin at with some high quality cricket.
Leaders Thailand are on the brink of qualification but UAE, who are playing in their first ICC competition, are now in second place in the table and now need only to win their last match to reach the final themselves.
Thailand faced China in the morning match at TCG and they used the same recipe for success that they had employed the previous day against Malaysia as they asked China to bat first and stifled the runs with some accurate bowling and tight fielding. China started steadily with Zhou Caiyun again top scoring for her side but once she was out for 12, Thailand took regular wickets as the Chinese were unable to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Leg-spinner Suleeporn Laomi was back to her best as she returned figures of four for four but China just could not rotate the strike with the result that the Thai bowlers shared seven maidens in the 19.4 overs they needed to dismiss China for 31.\
The hosts reached their target of 32 in 4.3 overs to record victory by eight wickets but they would be disappointed to have lost two early wickets and their cause was helped by China conceding 14 runs in extras. Thailand’s batting line-up has now only faced 15 overs in the last three matches.

United Arab Emirates were clearly on the way to becoming a new force in women’s cricket as they had upset Nepal’s calculations the day before by beating the higher-ranked team by five runs in the most exciting contest of the tournament. UAE had already won two matches in their first ICC competition and they were now sensing they had a great chance of also beating Hong Kong.
Keenu Gill and Mariko Hill had showed their class with a century partnership against China so UAE were looking for early wickets after Hong Kong had won the toss in the afternoon match at AIT and elected to bat first. Gill could make only two when she was lbw to Natasha Cherriath and her opening partner Yasmin Daswani soon followed.
The key wicket in the innings was now that of the Hong Kong captain and she was deceived by Kavisha Egodage to be caught at mid-on for 10 to leave her side rocking at 30 for 3. Panic had clearly set in as Shanzeen Shahzad was run out without facing and wicket-keeper Jenefer Davies wasn’t able to rescue her side as she had managed against Malaysia as she was bowled by Egodage for 1.
Hong Kong were 36 for 5 at the halfway point of the innings and although Kary Chan was sixth out with the total on 41, Hong Kong’s lower-order are capable players and Sze Wan Yip and Marina Lamplough began to build a partnership for the seventh wicket. Although they had been looking for a total close to 100, Hong Kong had probably now revised their idea of a defendable score to 80.
The seventh-wicket pair were largely content to place the ball well and run hard but Lamplough hit a boundary in the 19th over only to be dismissed next ball caught at mid-on for 24 from 28 balls. Egodage finished with 3 for 14 in her four overs and Nisha Ali, player of the match against Nepal, collected two wickets in the final over of the innings to record even better figures of 3 for 9.
There was a run out from the last ball of the innings as Hong Kong were bowled out for 80 with Sze Wan Yip unbeaten on 15. UAE had made a total of 79 for 6 on the same ground against Nepal so the target was within their range. Would the team be able to cope with the extra pressure of chasing a target when the rewards could be so great?

UAE’s top order had shown they could play attacking shots in their earlier matches but they were more conservative in what could prove a defining match for women’s cricket in their country. Shubha Venkataraman made nine from 28 balls when she was first out with the score on 23 in the ninth over but Esha Oza was looking dangerous until she was dismissed by Marina Lamplough for 20 from 31 balls as UAE were 32 for two after 10 overs.
Powerful left-hander Udeni Dona had shown she could hit boundaries and Nisha Ali had batted well in the match against Nepal so the match was very much there to be won if UAE could keep their composure and build a partnership.
Runs began to come more easily as the third-wicket pair settled at the crease and they were both able to hit boundaries early in their innings which meant the field was set deep so singles were now available.
Victory was coming closer now as Nisha Ali hit a high full toss to the mid-wicket boundary for four and then played a delightful shot through extra-cover so that 11 runs came from the 17th over as UAE came within here runs of sealing a historic victory.
A single to Nisha Ali at the start of the 18th over brought UAE within two runs of victory and Udeni Dona scored the winning runs from the last ball of the over. UAE had beaten Hong Kong by eight wickets with two overs to spare and the third-wicket partnership had added 49 runs in eigh overs with remarkable composure.
Udeni Dona finished on 22* from 28 balls but there was no doubt that Nisha Ali was player of the match for adding 25* from 22 balls to her figures of 3 for 9. UAE have six points from four matches and they are one win away from reaching the final and playing in the ICC Women's World T20 Qualifier in Netherlands next year.
In the other game of the day played in the morning at AIT, Nepal put the disappointment of Thursday’s defeat behind them to gain their first victory of the tournament as they beat Malaysia by 33 runs.
Sita Magar hit 37 from 42 balls to help her side reach an impressive total of 108 for 6 and although Malaysia built a solid platform thanks to the efforts of opener Emylia Eliani who made a determined 24 from 40 balls but the Malaysian middle-order could not keep up with a required rate that soon headed above eight runs per over. Malaysia finished on 75 for 7 and Nepal moved into fourth place in the table on four points and are still well in contention to reach the third place play-off.
It had been a momentous day for women’s cricket which left Thailand on the brink of reaching their third consecutive ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier but the heroines of the day were the UAE team who had started their first ICC competition as outsiders but with victories over Nepal and Hong Kong are now second in the table and are in line to meet Thailand in Monday’s final.
All is not completely lost for Hong Kong but they will need results to go in their favour on the last day of league matches and also find a way of beating the hosts. Thailand lead the table with seven points, UAE are second on six and Hong Kong third on five and Sunday’s fixtures see China face Nepal, UAE face Malaysia and Hong Kong have to take on Thailand.
There is still plenty to play for in the lead-up to the third place play-off and final which will be played on 27th November. UAE women’s team have really made a name for themselves in this tournament and they could go much further.