MALAYSIA SART WITH A BANG WHILE THAILAND SCRAPE PAST CHINA

The first day of the ICC Women’s Asia Qualifier will be remembered particularly for contrasting victories for Malaysia who defeated Kuwait by 63 runs in the morning match at AIT thanks to an outstanding team performance but Thailand had some anxious moments before defeating China by 6 wickets with only a ball to spare.

The match at TCG was affected by morning rain which meant the contest was reduced to only eight overs aside. China could make only 32 for 7 but they were highly competitive in the field and only a boundary from Chanida Sutthiruang from the fifth ball of the last over saw the hosts through to a nail-biting victory. UAE were the day’s other winners as they beat Hong Kong by 21 runs in the afternoon match at AIT.

This was the first day’s play in the ICC Women’s Asia Qualifier which is being held in Bangkok from 18th to 27th February. Seven women’s teams from across Asia are competing in a league competition which will see the winners qualify for the next stage of both the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the ICC 50-over Women’s World Cup.

Thailand were facing China at TCG and were looking to build on their unbeaten record in the recent Thailand T20 Smash which has taken them to 12th in the world rankings for Women’s T20 Internationals. In the other morning match Kuwait were making their debut in an ICC women’s competition as they were playing Malaysia at AIT. Malaysia who also played in the Smash competition made a confident start to reach 30 without loss in four overs.

Kuwait fought back well against Malaysia as they were able to dismiss both openers. Yusrina Yaakop was bowled by Priyada Murali for 19 to end an opening partnership of 39 and captain Winifred Duraisingam tried a big hit but holed out in the deep for 16. Kuwait captain Maryam Omar finished her four overs of off-spin for just 14 runs and Malaysia were 53 for 2 after 10 overs.

With five overs to go in their innings Malaysia were moving into a strong position as they reached 89 for 2 after 15 overs. Siow Tzin Yee and Mas Elysa were playing well and putting away the occasional bad balls against bowlers inexperienced at this level.

Malaysia would have been pleased with their final total of 139 for 3 in 20 overs as their greater experience at this level paid dividends towards the end of their innings as Kuwait began to tire in the field. Siow Tzin Yee made an unbeaten 42 from 40 balls after Mas Elysa had hit 33 from 32 balls. Mariamma Hyder finished with 2 for 21 but a number of injuries were proof that Kuwait had found it difficult in the field.

Kuwait women’s team had high hopes as they came into their first ICC competition and they do have some fine individual players but they were brought down to earth by an excellent team performance from Malaysia who were comfortable winners by a margin of 63 runs. Defending a total of 139 for 3 Malaysia’s bowlers were comfortable to bowl to their strengths. Mas Elysa followed her innings of 33 with figures of 3 for 8 as Kuwait were bowled out for 76 with Sabreen Zaki unable to bat after being injured in the field. Nur Nadhirah and Nur Ariyanna both claimed two wickets as Malaysia enjoyed one of their best ever wins at this level.

Hosts Thailand endured a long wait for morning rain to clear before their match against China could get under way at TCG. The game was reduced to eight over aside and it looked like Thailand would have a comfortable chase as they restricted China to 32 for 7.

China have been left with an under-strength team in recent competitions but they look to have a strong bowling attack in this tournament as they made Thailand fight all the way before Chanida Sutthiruang hit the winning boundary with one ball to spare. The scorebook will say that Thailand won by six wickets but this was so close to being an incredible upset to start off the tournament.

Chanida Sutthiruang often bowls well with the new ball and claimed figures of 3 for 3 in her 2 overs, but the boundary she hit to end this match was just as important. This was an example of how short forms of cricket can bring two sides much closer together and Thailand will be very relieved to gain two points for the victory.

Hong Kong faced UAE in the afternoon match at AIT and it looked to be a well-balanced contest between two evenly matched teams. UAE have been more successful in recent tournaments and they finished as losing finalists behind Thailand in the last Asian Qualifier but Hong Kong were looking for an improved performance.

Both teams had played in a recent competition in Bangkok and so were used to the conditions of the pitch as well as the weather. UAE captain Humaira Tasneem was quick to choose to bat first on winning the toss but Hong Kong’s Mariko Hill was just as happy to bowl first. The match was still evenly poised after 10 overs with UAE on 58 for 4 and when the hard hitting Chamani Senevirathne was caught by Hill off Ruchitha Venkatesh for 15, UAE were 70 for 5 after 13 overs and Hong Kong were looking to restrict their opponents to a total close to the 100 mark.

UAE moved into three figures from the last ball of the 19th over with seven wickets down. The lower order were going for their shots and a wicket, a boundary and two singles came in the last over. The final total was 106 for 8 and at the end of the innings both teams could still fancy their chances of starting the competition with a victory. UAE had runs on the board but Hong Kong will have thought they had a good chance of achieving their target. UAE’s highest individual score was only 19 and the wickets were shared around but a total of 106 was still a useful one at this level.

Hong Kong were getting tied down at the start of their innings against some steady bowling from UAE. Chaya Mughal and Subha Venkataraman shared the new ball and restricted Hong Kong to 17 for 2 from the six-over power-play with Yasmin Daswani getting run out from the final ball of the fielding restrictions. Chaya Mughal bowled her four overs straight through and conceded nine runs before immediately taking over behind the stumps.

The reason for this interesting move immediately became clear as former Sri Lankan captain Chamani Senevirathne came on to bowl her fast off-breaks. UAE look a well-drilled side even after the retirement of Nisha Ali who was player of the tournament in the last edition of the Asia Qualifier. To complete the imaginative use of available resources the original keeper opening bat Esha Oza was brought on to bowl. Number four Ka Ying Chan was then able to get the innings moving as Hong Kong reached 34 for 2 from 10 overs but still required 73 from the last 10 overs.

Hong Kong were slipping further behind the rate but Jenefer Davies was third out for 5 runs from 25 balls to allow captain Mariko Hill to come to the crease to try to increase the tempo. Ka King Chan followed after a bright innings of 19 and Marina Lamplough was run out from the last ball of the 15th over. Hong Kong were 53 for 5 with five overs left to score 54 more runs.

Jasmine Titmuss raised Hong Kong’s hopes with a pair of boundaries but the dismissal of Mariko Hill lbw to Esha Oza for 12 was probably the end of any realistic hope of victory for her team. Chamani Senevirathne finished with one for 25 from her four overs and Esha Oza had also done a useful job with one for 14 from 4 after first keeping wicket.

The pressure exerted by some steady bowling also resulted in three run outs as Hong Kong were restricted to 85 for eight. It had been a competitive match throughout but UAE remained the superior side as they won by 21 runs. UAE joined Thailand and Malaysia as winners on the first day but it was quite a surprise that the most complete performance of the day came from Malaysia as they beat Kuwait by 63 runs. Play continues tomorrow with three more matches with Nepal getting underway against Malaysia, Hong Kong facing China and UAE playing Kuwait.

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