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Thailand and UAE triumph over Uganda and Netherlands in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier
Thailand and United Arab Emirates (UAE) registered thorough wins in Monday night’s matches of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier at Tolerance Oval and Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The wins kept alive the teams’ hopes of a place in the tournament’s semi-finals.
At Tolerance Oval, Thailand bested Uganda by nine wickets, while UAE claimed an emphatic, 10-wicket victory under the Zayed Cricket Stadium lights.
Both matches were dominated by the bowlers of the winning teams, who ripped through their opponents’ batting line-ups with superb pace and spin bowling displays.
Equally, UAE’s openers ensured that their bowlers’ hard work paid off, with a scintillating chase led by captain Esha Oza’s outstanding 66 not-out.
Uganda vs Thailand
Thailand’s bowlers proved their captain Naruemol Chaiwai’s decision of fielding first right, by producing a sensational bowling display that blew away the Uganda batting line-up. After a 17-run opening stand, Uganda collapsed to 62-all out in 17.4 overs.
Only three batters Rita Musamali (24), captain, Janet Mbabazi (14) and opener, Prosscovia Alako (10), reached double figures as Thailand’s bowlers kept making inroads.
All-rounder, Nattaya Boochatham, who shared the new ball with Chanida Sutthiruang, took two wickets for eight runs in 2.4 overs with her probing off-spinners. Pacer, Sutthiruang, was equally good as she returned her own pair of scalps for 10 runs in her four overs.
Left-arm spinner, Thipatcha Putthawong, maintained the stranglehold on Uganda’s batters, with two wickets.
Thailand chased down the target with consummate ease. Seasoned batter, Natthakan Chantham, played some delightful shots in her unbeaten 34 off 43 balls (five fours) to earn the Player of the Match award. She shared a 30-run opening stand with Boochatham (12) and an unbeaten, 34-run partnership with Nannapat Koncharoenkai, as the victory was achieved with 51 balls to spare.
Thailand have now won one and lost one match while Uganda have lost two out of their three matches, their only win was against UAE on Saturday. Sri Lanka are at the top of Group A, with Scotland in second place, both teams have won two matches so far.
Netherlands vs UAE
The Netherlands’ decision to bat first backfired as the UAE’s bowlers tore through their batting line-up. The Player of the Match in the win against Vanuatu, Sterre Kalis, fell for a first ball duck to Samira Dharnidharka in the opening over of the match. The loss of the star batter rattled the side as UAE’s bowlers tightened their grip.
Netherlands were reduced to 49 for four and seemed to recover well when they reached 82 for four in the 14th over.
The match took a dramatic turn however, when Netherlands lost four wickets for the addition of just three runs, 82 for four tripping to 85 for eight in a space of 11 balls. The last two wickets added 16 runs as Netherlands finished their 20 overs at a disappointing 101 for nine.
Dharnidharka was the pick of the UAE bowlers, her seam bowling earned her three wickets for 11 runs in four overs. Khushi Shamra and Vaishnave Mahesh took two wickets each, both conceded 16 runs in their three and four-over spells respectively.
Robine Rijke’s 44 (36 balls, five fours, one six) was the only notable performance with the bat for the Dutch.
UAE’s openers got off to an aggressive start in their batting reply, with Oza leading the way with a brilliant knock of 66 off 39 deliveries (nine fours, two sixes). The right-hander displayed her incredible shot range in a brisk innings which helped UAE improve their net run-rate considerably, following their defeats to Ireland and Zimbabwe in their opening matches. Oza finished the match with a big six over wide mid-wicket as UAE completed the chase with 49 balls to spare.
Oza’s opening partner Theertha Satish provided her wonderful support with an unbeaten 36 off 33 balls. Satish stroked five fours in her innings as the helpless Netherlands bowlers finished the innings wicket-less.
The big win keeps the UAE’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals from Group B alive. Netherlands, who defeated Vanuatu by 100 runs in their opening match, will now need to come out firing at all cylinders against Zimbabwe and Ireland, as the battle for the top two spots heats up.
Scores in brief:
Match 11:
Thailand beat Uganda by nine wickets
Uganda 62 all out in 17.4 overs (Rita Musamali 24, Janet Mbabazi 14; Thipatcha Putthawong 2-7, Nattaya Boochatham 2-8, Chanida Sutthiruang 2-10)
Thailand 64 for 1 in 11.3 overs (Natthakan Chantham 34 not out, Nattaya Boochatham 15, Nannapat Koncharoenkai 12 not out; Sarah Akiteng 1-18)
Player of the Match – Natthakan Chantham
Match 12:
UAE beat Netherlands by 10 wickets
Netherlands 101 for 9 in 20 overs (Robine Rijke 44; Samira Dharnidharka 3-11, Vaishnave Mahesh 2-16, Khushi Sharma 2-16)
UAE 104 for no loss in 11.5 overs (Esha Oza 66 not out, Theertha Satish 36 not out)
Player of the Match – Esha Oza
(ICC)
Some 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a rare admission of the extent of the nation’s casualties.
In a post on social media, the Ukrainian president said 370,000 others had been injured, though this figure included soldiers who had been hurt more than once.
He also claimed that 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and a further 550,000 wounded.
The BBC has not been able to verify either side’s figures.
While both Kyiv and Moscow have regularly published estimates of the other side’s losses, they have been reluctant to detail their own.
[BBC]
Iqbal Hossain Emon and Azizul Hakim bagged three wickets apiece as Bangladesh defended their Under-19 Asia Cup title with a comfortable 59-run win against India in Dubai.
Chasing 199, India were bowled out for 139 in 35.2 overs, completing a horror Sunday that also saw the men’s Test and women’s ODI sides suffer big defeats.
Electing to field, fast bowler Yudhajit Guha cleaned up Bangladesh opener Kalam Siddiki relatively early for 1. Zawad Abrar struck two fours and a six in his 20 but fell to Chetan Sharma caught behind. Guha then struck again getting rid of captain Azizul Hakim with Bangladesh slipping to 66 for 3 in the 19th over.
Mohammad Shihab James and Rizan Hossan then stitched a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket to resurrect the Bangladesh innings, but wickets in quick succession wrested any momentum they had built.
James departed first on 40 dismissed by Ayush Mhatre in the 32nd over before Debasish Deba fell eight balls later to KP Karthikeya. Raj then bowled Hossan for 47 while Samiun Basir and Al Fahad fell in the space of an over as Bangladesh slipped from 128 for 3 in the 32nd over to 167 for 8 in the 42nd.
Wicketkeeper-batter Farid Hasan and Maruf Mridha added a crucial 30-run stand for the ninth wicket before Bangladesh were all out for 198 in the last over.
India, however, failed to get going in their chase from the outset. Mhatre departed in the second over bowled by Fahad while 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi fell in the fifth after hitting two fours. When C Andre Siddharth became Hossan’s first victim, India found themselves struggling at 44 for 3 in the 12th over.
Captain Mohamed Amaan and Karthikeya added a brief 29-run stand for the fourth wicket, but soon Emon ushered a collapse and there was no way back for India. The medium pacer first had Karthikeya caught behind for 21 before striking two balls later to send back Nikhil Kumar for a duck. In his next over, he removed Harvansh Pangalia as India were reduced to 81 for 6 in the 23rd over.
That became 92 for 7 when Fahad removed Kiran Chormale giving ‘keeper Farid his fourth catch of the innings. Amaan and Raj tried to delay the inevitable but once Hakim removed his opposite number in the 32nd over, the game was as good as done.
Hakim picked the last three wickets to spark jubilant scenes in the Bangladesh camp.
Brief score:
Bangladesh U-19 198 in 49.1 overs (Rizan Hossan 47, Mohamed Shihab James 40, Farid Hasan 39; Yudhajit Guha 2-29, Hardik Raj 2-41, Chetan Sharmq 2-48, ) beatIndia U-19 139 in 35.2 overs (Mohamed Amaan 26, Hardik Raj 24; Al Fahad 2-24, Azizul Hakim 3-8, Iqbal Hossain Emon 3-24) by 59 runs
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka took seven wickets for 126 on day three, but are now faced with making 348 for victory. This would not only be a ground record, but a record in South Africa, beating the 340 the hosts made against Australia in Durban, in 2002.
Prabath Jayasuriya was Sri Lanka’s primary weapon, completing a 10th career five-wicket haul, and his first overseas, before lunch. He bowled yet another long spell into the rough that has developed outside the right-hander’s leg stump. Through the course of his 14 overs on day four, he dismissed Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, and Marco Jansen, and finished with figures of 5 for 129.
Though Sri Lanka made serious strides in the first session, taking five wickets to work their way back into a Test that had been at risk of slipping away, they lost some momentum against the tail. Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, and Dane Paterson collectively crashed two sixes and five fours after lunch. The four overs they faced after lunch brought South Africa 35 runs in all.
The seamers toiled on a slowing surface for large parts of the morning, while Jayasuriya struck, but each of them picked up a wicket during the day. Vishwa, who had also had Aiden Markram nicking behind on the third evening, finished with the best figures among them, taking 2 for 47 from his 19 overs.
Of all the dismissals South Africa will rue Tristan Stubbs’ run out the most. He and overnight partner Bavuma had begun the day brightly, and had extended their fourth-wicket stand to 103, when Bavuma clubbed a Lahiru Kumara ball to deep midwicket, and took off for a tight two. Stubbs hesitated upon turning for the second, however, and attempted to turn Bavuma back, but the ball-watching earlier meant it was too late. The pair were caught mid-pitch for long enough that Kumara could get back to the non-striker’s stumps and run Stubbs out with ease. He was out for 47.
Bavuma, who early in the day completed his fourth half-century of the series (one of these is a hundred), then put on a 41-run stand with Bedingham, whom Sri Lanka tested with the short ball with a stacked leg-side field (he had been dropped twice trying to pull in the first innings). They got through that period, but Bavuma could not defy Jayasuriya forever. He was bowled trying to sweep the spinner, the ball leaping out of the rough. With this 66, Bavuma has 327 runs for the series.
Bedingham batted with much more caution than he had displayed in the first innings for his 35, but edged Jayasuriya to slip, the ball once again kicking off the surface to take the outside edge. Vishwa Fernando then zipped one off the surface in the channel to have Kyle Verreynne caught behind for nine. Jansen had attempted to hit out against Jayasuriya, and was caught on the deep-midwicket boundary.
The tail came out of the lunch break swinging. Rabada clobbered two fours in the first over of the session, and was also struck in the helmet by a Kumara short ball. Paterson too, wore a Kumara bouncer on the helmet. But Paterson and Maharaj smashed sixes off Jayasuriya, and more boundaries came off the seamers before an Asitha yorker to Paterson finally ended the innings.
Brief scores:
South Africa 358 and 318 (Temba 66, Markram 55; Prabath Jayasuriya 5-129) lead Sri Lanka 328 by 347 runs
(Cricinfo)
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