All-rounders Chaiwai and Chanida Sutthiruang shine, Thailand qualify for a major ICC tournament for the first time.
Summary:
Chanida Sutthiruang with the ball and Chaiwai with bat helps Thailand to win over PNG by 8 wickets in all-important Semifinal at Dundee on Thursday.
Winning the toss, PNG opted to bat considering it is safe to chase in a pressure game. Sadly, they did not have a good start as Sutthiruang dismissed one of the openers early. Sibona Jimmy who was impressed with the bat in the last match failed very badly as she was not able to connect the ball properly, she scored 13 runs with a strike rate of 45, which is not fair by an opener in t20. Not only her even other batters failed to make a mark in the match, all credits to quality bowling from Thailand girls, especially Sutthiruang and not to forget the most economical spell of the tournament by leg spinner Suleeporn Naomi who bowled an excellent spell of 1 for 5 in 4 overs with an economy rate under 2, which ultimately made PNG to end on 67 for 7 in 20 overs, which is a below-par score on any day in t20.
Chasing the target Thailand never looked like they were in trouble, knowing the target is small, they played sensibly, especially Chawai, who has been excellent throughout the tournament impressed again with a responsible inning of 32 and she was well supported by Chantham and Nannapat which made chase easy for Thailand as they chased the target within 18 overs.
With this win, for the first time, Thailand will be playing a major ICC tournament, which is a good sign for cricket as well as to their nation.
Both the teams qualified for World Cup are from Asia, though they qualified, Thailand will be playing Bangladesh in the finals on Saturday at Dundee to decide the winner of the tournament.
Brief Scores: PNG 67 for 7 ( Arua 16, Sutthiruang 2 for 15) lost to Thailand 68 for 2 ( Chaiwai 32, Ravini 1 for 7) by 8 wickets.
To read more such summary articles on Women’s t20 world cup qualifiers, Click below
