Dubai: Thailand will head to their first ever global event as they beat PNG by 8 wickets in Dundee to take one of two places at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
Bangladesh, ranked 9th in the MRF Tyres Women’s T20i Rankings, knocked out Ireland in a low-scoring thriller at Forthill as 85/10 played 86/6 to hand Bangladesh a four-wicket win and guarantee their place at the 10-team tournament that begins on 21st February in Sydney.
Thailand have made history and qualified for their first ever major event with a commanding 8-wicket win over PNG in Dundee to join Bangladesh on the plane to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
Papua New Guinea, who beat Scotland and USA in the tournament to progress to the semi-final against Thailand, could only accumulate 67 runs as they won the toss and opted to bat first in attempt at putting runs on the board on a slow wicket at Forthill.
Thailand’s Sutthiruang (2/15) was again in with the wickets, removing Vare at the top of the order for 13 and returning to remove captain Oa for 5 in the last over of the game, as PNG struggled to find their rhythm from the offset, their highest partnership worth just 16 runs in a high-pressure game.
Thailand, chasing 68, opted for a calm and controlled approach as openers Chantam (18 off 31) and Chaiwai (32 off 40) took their time to pick off the runs required, striking just five boundaries in their innings to set the team up for a match-winning and World Cup-promising pursuit.
With both openers dismissed by the end of the 16th over, Koncharoenkai (16*) and Boochatham (2*) finished off the job to take an 8-wicket victory for Thailand and guarantee their place at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Forthill saw another close, low-scoring game as Bangladesh clinched a spot at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia by 4 wickets to send them to their fourth ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia from February 2020.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Ireland got off to a nightmare start as they lost their top three (Waldron 1; Lewis 5; Garth 2) with just 15 runs on the board in the first semi-final of the day.
A disciplined, all-round performance in the field saw only one extra given away as each bowler made a contribution – Fahima Khatun the standout with 3/18 – to ensure Ireland never recovered from their earlier woes.
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