THAILAND WOMEN LOSE TO SCOTLAND OFF LAST BALL IN QUAD CUP THRILLER

THAILAND WOMEN LOSE TO SCOTLAND OFF LAST BALL IN QUAD CUP THRILLER

Thailand and Scotland are the two highest ranked teams in the Quad Cup which is being held at TCG in Bangkok and they provided an exciting contest which went to the last ball and was won by two wickets by Scotland but the Thai girls had given their all against the team which had beaten them by 58 runs in the 50-over World Cup in Pakistan earlier in the year.

Thailand won the toss and chose to bat first and their openers again provided a solid base for their innings with an opening stand of 38 as Chanida Sutthiruang made 30 from 36 balls with 5 fours. Nannapat Khoncaroenkai with 31 from 27 balls with 5 fours and Nattakan Chantham with 30 from 22 balls with 4 fours gave the innings impetus and Suleeporn Laomi hit 14 from just 8 balls to ensure that 20 came from the last two overs.

A total of 136 for 5 in 20 overs against a quality bowling attack was highly satisfactory but Scotland managed to keep up with the run-rate despite losing regular wickets as Sunida Chaturongrattana took 3 for 27 in her 4 overs.

The experienced Sarah Bryce top-scored with 31 as the match came down to the last over with left-armer spinner Thipatcha Putthawong left to bowl with seven runs required from the last six balls. The first ball went to the boundary but Thipatcha bowled the hard-hitting Rachel Slater with her next ball and took another wicket from her fifth ball with the scores level.

Scotland managed to get a single from the last ball of the 20^th over of their innings to gain the tightest of victories but the Thailand team could be proud of their display throughout the match and should be inspired by Thipatcha’s effort in the last over when she took two wickets for seven runs.

Thailand will face Scotland again in the upcoming ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy and in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier in Nepal when the two teams will be competing for places in the next World Cup so Thailand should gain great confidence from this committed performance.

The morning match was played between Namibia and Papua New Guinea who had both lost on the first day. PNG gave a good display in the field to bowl out Namibia for 74 but made heavy weather of the chase as they lost four wickets for 40.

Opener Naomi Vare held her nerve to remain unbeaten on 23 from 50 balls but captain Brenda Tau made a bright 27 from 34 balls to lead her side to victory by six wickets.

The winners of the tournament will be decided on Monday with Scotland facing Namibia in the morning and Thailand hoping for a Scottish defeat before their afternoon match against PNG.

This is only the competition leading upto the eight-team ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy also held in Bangkok but Thailand and Scotland had served up a wonderful contest which showed how much cricket lovers have to look forward to in the coming days.