It was refreshing to see the opening pair of Thailand firing on all cylinders on Tuesday at Sydney against Pakistan.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Thailand posted 150-3 in 20 overs, their highest score in World T20s. Nattakan Chantam (56) and Nattaya Boochatham (44) went all guns blazing as they stitched a power-packed 93 run opening partnership in 13.3 overs. They were simply toying with the Pakistani bowlers. Wonder if they had put up such a show before this dead rubber, they would have had high chances of causing an upset.
On the other hand, Pakistan was at the receiving end of the Thai onslaught. So far, Pakistani bowlers were disciplined in the tournament and were hard to get away with. However, their Asian counterpart came strong and kept the bowlers at bay. Diana Baig, Anam Amin, and Nida Dar scalped one wicket apiece.
At the end of the first innings, it started pouring in Sydney and after the official cut off time for a five-over game was breached, the game was called off. Both the teams shared one point each.
During the rain delay, Thailand kept the fans entertained on the big screen with an impromptu dance-off 🕺
Thank you for being part of #TheBigDance!#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/0wx0Nbzxuy
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) March 3, 2020
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.