Thailand thrash Netherlands in opening round of Qualifiers

Rain made its presence felt on the opening morning of ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019. While the Group A match between Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea at Forthill in Dundee on Saturday (August 31) was washed out, the rain gods showed some mercy as Thailand and Ireland clashed in a nine-over encounter in Group B.

Thailand won the rain-marred match against Netherlands by 30 runs in Arbroath. Nattakan Chantam starred with an unbeaten knock of 44, before Chanida Sutthiruang ripped through Netherlands' line-up with a searing spell of 3 for 5.

Chasing 77, Netherlands needed their star player, Sterre Kalis, to fire to have any chance whatsoever. However,  Thailand snuffed out those hopes early, dismissing the 20-year-old off the second ball of the innings. Nerthalnds lost their second wicket in the very next over as Nattaya Boochatham removed Denise van Deventer for three.

Sutthiruang bowled a dream second over as she removed Heather Siegers and Robine Rijke in succession to put Thailand firmly in the driver's seat.

 

Earlier today, Chanida Suttiruang won the Player of the Match award for her 3/5 against Netherlands.

Look how much she swings the ball in!#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/aSwm1rxoLa

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) August 31, 2019

 

It went from bad to worse for Netherlands as they lost their fifth wicket in the sixth over of the innings with just 23 runs and board. It was then a matter of how much the Dutch could reduce the margin of defeat rather than chase a victory. Netherlands eventually finished on 46 for 5 in their allotted nine overs, courtesy Babette de Leede top-scoring with 20 runs - a knock that included the only six of the innings.

Having electing to bat first, Thailand openers Chaiwai and Chantam got off to a solid start. Chantam got into the groove in the second over of the innings as she collected 10 runs off Caroline de Lange.

Netherlands had a golden opportunity in the fourth over of the innings to dismiss Chaiwai, but they let the chance slip as Silver Siegers failed to collect the ball cleanly in an attempt to run her out. After that, Thailand ran away with the game. Chantam and Chaiwai upped the ante in the sixth over of the innings as they collected 11 runs off the over of Siegers and also brought the 50 run partnership off just 36 balls.

 

Played: 1

Won: 1

Natthakan Chantham's 44* for Thailand laid the platform for a convincing win for her country over the Netherlands on day one of the #T20WorldCup.

Some wonderful shots in her innings 👇 pic.twitter.com/boje9ndrvo

— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) September 1, 2019

 

Chaiwai initially slow to begin with, started to find the boundary at the business end of the innings as she finished unbeaten on 26 off 22 balls. At the other end, Chantam had quietly collected 44 off 32 deliveries and Thailand finished on 76 for no loss - far too much for Netherlands.

The Group A encounter between Bangladesh and PNG will be played on the reserve day on Monday (September 2).

Brief Scores: Thailand 76/0 in 9 overs (Nattakan Chantam 44*, Naruemol Chaiwai 26*) beat Netherlands 46/5 in 9 overs (Babette de Leede 20*; Chanida Sutthiruang 3-5) by 30 runs. PoM: Chanida Sutthiruang.