Chanida Sutthiruang of Thailand and Nattaya Boochatham of Thailand go for play during the match 13 of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier between Thailand Women and Bhutan Women, held at Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok, on 15 May 2025.
Photo by Anshuman Akash / CREIMAS
It was an action-packed day at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier being held in Bangkok as Thailand qualified for the Super Three stage of the competition by beating Bhutan at TCG while UAE also qualified as their match against Malaysia was abandoned without a ball bowled at AIT.
The most exciting cricket of the day came in the match between Nepal and Bahrain when it looked like Bahrain would gain a surprise victory after Nepal collapsed to 23 for 4 when they were chasing a revised target of 56 in 7 overs. Captain Inshu Barma rescued her side with four fours and a six in her 24 made off just 7 balls and Nepal will be hoping Hong Kong, China can’t beat Bahrain at AIT tomorrow so they can become the third team in the Super Three.
When players and officials arrived for Thailand’s match against Bhutan at TCG at 8 am the covers were on the edge of the with a lot of water still to be cleared. The pitches near the edge of the square looked damp and time would be needed for the ground to dry out. It was an anxious time for the hosts as Thailand needed to win today to confirm their place in the Super Three.
Finally the umpires declared the ground was fit to play and the toss was held at 1040 am before an 11 am start of what would be a nine-over aside match.
Bhutan won the toss and put Thailand into bat and Nattaya Boochatham marked her return to the side by sweeping her first ball to the boundary. Chanida Sutthiruang pulled her first ball for four and followed with a sumptuous cover drive as 17 runs came off the first over and Thailand’s nerves were already settling down.
Boochatham was bowled by Ritishi Choden for 7 as Thailand made 27 for 1 from the three-over powerplay but Nannapat Khoncharoenkai came in at number three and quickly struck a trio of boundaries as Thailand reached 49 for 1 from five overs.
Sutthiruang brought up the 50 with another boundary and Khoncharoenkai was matching her shot for shot as the run-rate climbed above ten runs an over. Both batters were on 33 as the total reached 80 after 7 overs.
Bhutan bowled their best two overs of the innings at the end as Thailand finished on 88 for 3 as both main batters were run out, Sutthiruang for 37 from 30 balls with 5 fours and Khoncharoenkai for 33 from 17 with 6 fours
Thipatcha Putthawong took a wicket in the first over and Onnicha Kamchomphu conceded only two runs in two overs and claimed the second wicket with the total on 14.
Two boundaries came off Phannita Maya as Bhutan scored 12 off the over to reach 26 for 2 from 5 overs but Suleeporn Laomi restored Thailand’s control. Putthawong finished with figures of 1 for 4 and Laomi took the third wicket as Dechen Wangmo skied to cover and the leg-spinner followed up by bowling Tshering Zangmo.
Laomi collected figures of 2 for 7 as Bhutan could make only 43 for 5 from their 9 overs as there was a run out from the last ball of the innings. Thailand won by 45 runs and qualified for the Super Three stage by winning Group A on 6 points.
The afternoon game was underway at TCG and it was scheduled for the full 20 overs although clouds are threatening. News has come in from AIT that the match between UAE and Qatar has been abandoned which means that UAE are confirmed as winners of Group B and have the same number of points as Thailand to carry through to the Super Three as both won their respective groups on six points.
Bahrain confidently chose to bat first after they had made Nepal work hard for victory in their earlier match and Nepal were desperate for victory to stay in the competition after losing to Hong Kong, China in a five-over match.
Bahrain started well with the bat but all their first three batters were run out as they tried to press on before rain intervened at 231 pm with the score on 76 for 3 after 12.4 overs.
After yet more heroic work from the ground staff play resumed at 420 pm with Nepal needing 56 runs in 7 overs to win and stay in the competition. They finally won by 6 wickets after being given a terrible shock by Bahrain as Pavithra Shetty claimed three wickets for 10 in her two overs to reduce Nepal to 24 for 3 after 4 overs.
Indu Barma knew her side were in grave danger of losing the match and not qualifying for the Super Three stage but she transformed the situation by hitting three fours off consecutive balls and then adding a six and another four to win the match.
Nepal scored 56 for 4 from 5.4 overs to win by 6 wickets on the DLS method as a remarkable 32 came from the last 8 balls as Barma hit an unbeaten 24 from 7 balls.
Nepal have played all four matches already but head Group C on 5 points. Hong Kong, China will win the group if they beat Bahrain tomorrow but Nepal will qualify for the Super Three if Bahrain win or if the match at AIT is a no result.