THAILAND COME FROM BEHIND TO WIN T20 SERIES IN ZIMBABWE

Thailand women’s cricket team have brought their tour to Zimbabwe to a successful end as they followed drawing the four match 50-over series by winning the T20 International series by two matches to one as Thailand (11^th place) remain ahead of Zimbabwe (12^th placed in the official ICC world rankings.

Thailand batted first in all three 20-over matches and made a poor start to the opening contest as they were reduced to 29 for four before launching a splendid counter-attack to finish on 104 for 4 as vice-captain Nannapat Khoncharoenkai made an unbeaten 62 with nine fours and shared a stand of 75* with Chanida Sutthiruang who made 33* in 37 balls.

Thailand fought like tigers in the field as they have done in all their T20 matches as they tried to defend their total. Zimbabwe looked in control at 72 for 2 but they lost a flurry of wickets as Nattaya Boochatham and Onnicha Kamchomphu both claimed figures of 3 for 18 in 4 overs, Zimbabwe scrapped home to victory by one wicket but Thailand had fought back strongly to show they could win the series if their batting fired.

Thailand dominated the second match as they scored their highest ever T20 total of 154 for 3 in 20 overs as opener Nattakan Chantam batted through the innings to score an undefeated 88 from 65 balls with ten fours and two sixes which is Thailand’s highest individual score in T20s. Nattaya Boochatham supported Chantam in an opening partnership of 44 and captain Naruemol Chaiwai ensured there was a strong finish to the innings as the run-rate reached 10 runs per over.

Zimbabwe never looked able to challenge Thailand’s total and Nattaya Boochatham took 4 wickets for 16 to bowl out the home side for 101 in 19.3 overs as Thailand claimed a comprehensive victory by 53 runs to level the series.

The third match of the series was the decider and Thailand claimed victory in the series as they won by 27 runs. Thailand didn’t have things all their own way as they had done in the second match as they lost their first five wickets for 70 but the innings was revived by Chanida Sutthiruang who hit 46 from just 28 balls as she hit seven fours and added 64 in 7.2 overs for the sixth wicket with Naruemol Chaiwai as Thailand reached 134 for 5.

Nattaya Boochatham was again the leading bowler in Zimbabwe’s replay as she returned figures of 3 for 22 to give her a remarkable 10 wickets for 56 in the three-match series. Zimbabwe were restricted to 107 for 7 and Thailand had continued their remarkable run of success in T20 International cricket. Nattaya Boochatham was named player of the series for her exceptional performances and as opening batter and bowler is now ranked 11^th in the world as an all-rounder.

Thailand’s cricket tour to Zimbabwe finished on an extremely high note as they showed they will be looking to repeat their achievement from 2020 when they took part in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Austtralia. Thailand’s batting is now looking stronger than ever as they have made their three highest totals in their last four T20 matches and their spin bowling and fielding has been exceptional.

The Thai girls will now head to South Africa to play 50-over and T20 series against a South African emerging team as they continue to build towards taking part in the final qualifying tournament for the 50-ver Women’s World Cup/

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/thailand-women-in-zimbabwe-2021-1272883