Date – Tuesday, 3rd March 2020
Time – 3 pm (Local Time), 9:30 am (IST)
Venue – Sydney Showground Stadium, Sydney
The round-robin matches of the Women’s World T20 is almost done with. We have entered the last day of this stage will all teams qualifying to the semi-finals confirmed. With hosts, Australia defeating New Zealand in the final Group A encounter, Australia have booked the semi-finals berth along with India. From Group B, England and South Africa have qualified for the semi-finals winning their respective matches yesterday.
With the teams progressing further confirmed, the match between Pakistan and Thailand is essentially a dead-rubber. Both teams make up the bottom half of the Group B standings. Pakistan have won one of their 3 games, defeating 2016 champions West Indies by 8 wickets. Thailand have been given a harsh reality check of what it is like to face the top sides, and have lost all their games quite comprehensively.
Although it will not count much eventually, both teams would like to end the tournament with a win.
Pakistan vs Thailand – Head-to-Head & Form Guide
Pakistan have only faced Thailand once so far in this format. They met each other during the 2018 Women’s Asia Cup, with Pakistan winning the game comprehensively by 8 wickets. They had restricted Thailand to just 67 in their 20 overs and chased it down in the 14th over of their chase. This is the first meeting of these two sides in World T20 tournaments.
Pakistan – LLWLL
Thailand – LLLLW
(Last 5 completed matches)
Pakistan have had a poor run winning only one match in their last 5 T20I matches, against West Indies in their tournament opener. Since then, they have lost their games against England and South Africa. They also came into this tournament with England defeating them in a 3-0 whitewash in Malaysia.
Thailand have found it really difficult against the top sides that they have encountered in this tournament. They made a brave effort in the first game against West Indies, picking up two early wickets, but could not keep them down. They lost two more games against England and South Africa. Their last win was the semi-finals of the World T20 qualifiers before they started losing against Bangladesh in the finals.
Teams
Pakistan Squad – Javeria Khan (captain), Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper), Nahida Khan, Nida Dar, Aimen Anwar, Muneeba Ali, Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Ayesha Naseem, Fatima Sana, Umaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Anam Amin, Iram Javed, Syeda Aroob Shah
The Pakistan team will be led by Javeria Khan. Just like in the previous game, she will be expected to again lead by example and anchor the innings. Muneeba Ali will look to carry forward her good form in the domestic circuit. Nahida Khan will be joining the team under the absence of the regular captain, Bismah Maroof. The flamboyance of Nida Dar, Iram Javed, and Aliya Riaz will boost the score at the back-end of the innings.
Nida Dar will also be expected to lead the bowling along with Aliya Riaz and Diana Baig. Anam Amin will look to roll her arm over. There will also be a handful of debutants looking forward to this chance.
Bismah Maroof had played an important role in their win against West Indies, but her injury during their game against England hampered their chances of qualifying. Javeria Khan will be leading the side in her absence as Maroof’s replacement player, Nahida Khan, will be joining the team. They will consider including an extra spinner in her place, considering the track, so Anam Amin can take her place.
Likely XI – Javeria Khan (captain), Sidra Nawaz (wicket-keeper), Nahida Khan, Muneeba Ali, Umaima Sohail, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Iram Javed, Diana Baig, Aiman Anwer, Anam Amin
Thailand Squad – Sornnarin Tippoch (captain), Nattaya Boochatham, Naruemol Chaiwai, Nattakan Chantam, Onnicha Kamchomphu, Rosenan Kanoh, Suwanan Khiaoto, Nannapat Koncharoenkai (wicket-keeper), Suleeporn Laomi, Soraya Lateh, Wongpaka Liengprasert, Phannita Maya, Ratanaporn Padunglerd, Thipatcha Putthawong, Chanida Sutthiruang
The Thailand team also has a bit of experience at the T20I level with 10 of their 15 players having played at least 30 T20Is. Naruemol Chaiwai and Nattakan Chantam, Sornnarin Tippoch and Nattaya Boochatham form the batting core and have scored half-centuries in this format. Chanida Sutthiruang and Suleeporn Laomi are their main bowlers.
Thailand have fielded a settled XI for all the matches so far. It is possible that they retain the same XI that played in the last game.
Likely XI – Sornnarin Tippoch (captain), Nattaya Boochatham, Naruemol Chaiwai, Nattakan Chantam, Onnicha Kamchomphu, Nannapat Koncharoenkai (wicket-keeper), Suleeporn Laomi, Soraya Lateh, Wongpaka Liengprasert, Ratanaporn Padunglerd, Chanida Sutthiruang
Players to Watch out for
Javeria Khan (Pakistan) – With the absence of Pakistan’s regular skipper, Bismah Maroof, Javeria Khan will have an important role to play in the side. Apart from leading the side, she will have to anchor the innings while batting as the batting resources are quite limited now. She will have to be more responsible and not throw away her wicket after a start, as she has done in the past. She has 8 half-centuries to her name including a recent one against England during the tour of Malaysia, so she will be confident of herself and her abilities.
Nida Dar (Pakistan) – Nida Dar has a good record in this format as an all-rounder. She has played in 98 matches scoring 1640 runs. She also has 92 wickets to show for her bowling efforts. This makes her a very reliable all-rounder for her side. She also possesses the firepower to strike the ball cleanly and accelerate the scoring with her cameos, as was evident during the fourth T20I game against South Africa last year, where she struck 75 off just 37 balls. She will be well-versed with Australian conditions, with her experience of playing in the recent Big Bash League.
Diana Baig (Pakistan) – Pakistan’s leading pace bowler, Diana Baig has been quite penetrating with the new ball. In just 21 T20Is, she has 18 wickets to her credit. She has picked up 5 wickets for Pakistan in this tournament in just 3 matches at an average of just under 13 runs. She can pick up early wickets at the start of the innings to give her team a solid start.
Anam Amin (Pakistan) – Anam Amin is an important spin bowler for Pakistan. She has played 50 T20Is for Pakistan, taking 49 wickets, including a four-for. She has played only 2 games in this tournament and has taken one wicket each. Considering the Sydney track, known for low bounce and slowness of the pitch, she can prove to be a handful for Thailand batters.
Pitch & Conditions
The match between Pakistan and Thailand will be played at the Sydney Showground Stadium. There has only been a total of 3 Women’s T20I matches being played here, all in this tournament. All three matches have been won by the team batting first. Run-scoring is relatively known to be more difficult here with the pitch lending more assistance to the spinners due to its subcontinental-like nature. The average score batting first has been only 137, even then the team batting first has won. This suggests that teams winning the toss should bat first, put the runs on the board and dry up the runs later using the assistance available for spinners.
The temperature is expected to stay between 20 and 22 degrees Celsius, which would not be overly uncomfortable for the players. However, it is expected to stay cloudy with periods of rain during the course of the match. Teams may be tempted to bat second and take advantage of the DLS calculations.
Will Pakistan finish off with a win? Will Thailand cause an upset? Or will the rain play the spoil-sport? We can’t wait for this match. Follow us on Twitter for all the updates.