Match Summary – Day 1 of Thailand Women’s T20 Smash 2019

With events turning up one after the other in women’s cricket here it comes  another one – ‘Thailand Women’s T20 Smash 2019’. This tournament is scheduled to run from 12^th January 2019 to 19^th January 2019. The feeling of enthusiasm for the cricket lovers can again be sensed in the air and this time its Thailand being the soil for the game. Thailand has always been known for having held some great events which include Asia qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup in the T20 and the ODI  format too!

Ten teams will  be seen playing  the tournament  in two groups of five each. Group A will have UAE, Nepal, China, Malaysia and Thailand A facing each other and Thailand, Indonesia, Bhutan, Myanmar and Hong Kong being placed under Group B. Both the groups respectively will be facing each other before the tournament concludes to 2 rounds of play offs . The tournament is to see 28 matches in it. This tournament has been given an international  T20 significance  with a great chance for upcoming talent to make the most of this event. Not only will new faces be discovered but this will also be  an opportunity for improving international rankings for the teams due to such international attributes of massive importance  given to the tournament. So here again fasten  your seat belts now  to go to a new destination, a different part of the world for some fresh experience and definitely lots of love for the game called cricket – this time with some ‘Thai’ flavour. 

12^th of January, 2019, which was the very first day of the tournament  turned out to be a a great one with 4 matches done which were as follows:

1. UAE  Women vs Thailand A Women
2. China Women vs Nepal Women
3. Myanmar Women vs Thailand Women
4. Honkong Women vs Indonesia Women

A small insight of the matches played today:

1.UAE Women vs Thailand A Women – 9:30 (local time) at Terdthai  Cricket  Ground,Bangkok

Thailand  A  Women won the toss and elected to field.UAE  Women who were to bat first after losing the toss  gave a target of 126 to Thailand  A women at a loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.UAE  Women after losing  wickets at a fast rate till the 4^th wicket,  got back in track and were able to achieve a considerable target  with the best performer being  KKN Egodage  who hit 42 runs from 42 balls.The bowling side displayed  great piece of work with not letting the Thailand A Women  cross even 65 runs and so they ended with a score of 65/9.Thailand  A  Women  didn’t have a good start in the tournament ; they weren’t able to build  partnerships  strong enough for getting their innings established  but because the tournament  has just begun , definitely there is a way to go.

2.China Women vs Nepal Women – 9:30 (local time)  at Asian Institute of Technology  ground , Bangkok

Nepal  Women  won the toss and elected to field  first.China  Women who were to bat first failed to put up a good score.They gave a target of 49 runs to Nepal  Women after their score  stood at a not so good picture of 48/6 which Nepal  Women  achieved very easily and  comfortably without  losing a single wicket.Nepal  Women  dominated  the China  Women  completely with their bowling; statistics prove the same – Nary Thapa – 4 overs, 6 runs,2 wickets; SR Magar – 4 overs,9 runs, 1 wicket; Karuna Bhandari – 4 overs , 9 runs,3 wickets.This was a very comfortable win for the Nepal women which shows some great start and approach ahead. Whatever the situation maybe , nothing is predictable in this game and specially  in this format, the heat is always on ,certainly a lot awaits in the tournament ahead.

3. Myanmar Women vs Thailand Women – 13:30 (local time) at Terdthai  Cricket  Ground, Bangkok

Myanmar women won the toss and elected to bat  first.It  didn’t  turn up in the favour  for  Myanmar Women  at  all.The team not just didn’t set up a stable partnership and a considerable score up the board but  also  couldn’t  sustain  till the end of the innings;Myanmar women were all out for a small total of 45 ,thus giving a a very easy target of 46 to Thailand  Women which they indeed reached.They were  able to reach the target in a jiffy completing it in just 5.3 overs  and that too without a loss of a single wicket.Hence Thailand women proved to have  dominated  the other side very clearly by  both – batting and bowling  and enjoyed  a sweet but powerful win!

4. Hong Kong Women vs Indonesia Women – 13:30 (local time) at  Asian Institute of Technology ground , Bangkok

Hong kong  Women  won the toss and elected to bat first.After struggling a lot with the bowling from the other side they were able to establish a score of 70 at a fall of 7 wickets in 20 overs.There  was a long struggle after a few shocks received by them in some of the initial balls faced itself which certainly created a great amount of pressure for the team.The score might have stretched a bit higher if the initial shocks  weren’t  so simultaneous  or  if  there would have been a stable partnership in between.On the other side Indonesia women were able to achieve the target quite comfortably at a loss of 3 wickets in 13.3 overs.This match could have been more longer till the end and some good finishes could have been experienced surely.Still this match was  at least if not so competitive in nature but certainly one with some good attempt by the losing team to defend the score.