Chantam's unbeaten half-century headlines Thailand's easy win over Scotland

Natakkan Chantam’s unbeaten 60 laid the foundation for Thailand’s 74-run demolition of Scotland in their opening match of the Women’s T20I Quadrangular Series at Sportpark Het Schootsveld in Deventer on Thursday (August 8). She was ably assisted by the bowling group led by Onnicha Kamchomphu and Suleeporn Laomi who helped dismiss Scotland for 55.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Thailand got off to a secure start. Chantam shared a 33-run opening stand with Narumol Chaiwai, before the latter was dismissed for a laborious 14-ball five by Katie McGill. It was, however, the second wicket partnership that set up the innings for Thailand. Nannapat Koncharoenkai joined Chantam in the middle and the pair proceeded to collect runs at a steady pace. They put together 52 runs in the space of 9.1 overs before Koncharoenkai fell for 33.

At that point Thailand were placed at 85 for 2 in 14.1 overs, and needed a push at the end to put up a challenging total. Chantam and Chanida Sutthiruang provided them with just that, finding the boundary at least once every over in the last quarter of the innings.

Chantam finished with a 49-ball 60— Thailand’s third highest score in T20Is— studded with nine boundaries. Her contribution helped guide Thailand to a total of 129 for 3 in 20 overs.

McGill was Scotland’s most successful bowler, picking up two wickets for 28 runs. Priyanaz Chatterji, was their other wicket-taker, with figures of 1-27.

Thailand’s defence of their target began on a splendid note when Sutthiruang dismissed the dangerous Sarah Bryce for a duck in the first over. None of the top four were able to enter double digits as Thailand’s bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals.Within the first 10 overs Scotland had been reduced to 28 for 4— they were clearly going nowhere.

Scotland’s no.5, Lorna Jack stuck around for a while and attempted to make an impact on the game. Her contribution of 12 runs was Scotland’s highest score of the match.

Meanwhile, Ruth Willis blasted her first two deliveries for boundaries before she became Kamchomphu’s first victim in the 11th over. The 21-year-old off-spinner picked up three more wickets in her next over, removing Jack, McGill and Megan McColl, all in the space of five deliveries. She finished with career-best figures of 4-8 in three overs and helped dismiss Scotland within 15.4 overs.

Laomi, the leg-spinner, who picked up two wickets, also went clear of Nattaya Boochatham, to become Thailand’s highest wicket taker in T20Is with 32 scalps.

Brief Scores: Thailand 129/3 in 20 overs (Natakkan Chantam 60*, Nannapat Koncharoenkai 33; Katie McGill 2-28) beat Scotland 55 in 15.4 overs (Onnicha Kamchomphu 4-8, Suleeporn Laomi 2-16) by 74 runs.