Thailand won by 3 wickets in the final [Source- ICC, Thailand Cricket/Instagram.com]
Thailand scripted history on Sunday with a thrilling 3-wicket win over Scotland in the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy in Bangkok. In the 10-team tournament, they finished at the top of the table over the likes of Netherlands, Scotland and the UAE by the virtue of net run-rate in the round-robin tournament.
As they clinch the inaugural edition of the competition, here’s how the cutthroat battle panned out.
Thipatcha Putthawong runs over the Scottish batting
On being asked to bowl first, the 2004-born left arm spinner opened the bowling for Thailand and dismantled the Scotland batting order with a fantastic 4-over spell, conceding only 17 runs and scalped four wickets. Her wickets included both the openers, captain Sarah Bryce and finisher Megan McColl.
None of the batters could score in double digits, with Priyanaz Chatterji’s 9(7) being the highest score for Scotland. They only managed 63 runs in 15.1 overs, despite 12 extras conceded by the tournament hosts. Suleeporn Laomi also bowled a crucial spell of 3/11 in her 4 overs.
Captain Chaiwai guides Thailand to a historic win
Scotland looked to fightback by reducing Thailand to 7/3 in 2.3 overs but senior pros, Natthakan Chantham and Naruemol Chaiwai added important 16(9) and 17*(21) respectively to slowly take their team towards the target.
Opening bowler Olivia Bell’s 5/8 (4) tried to spoil the party for Thailand but the skipper stuck to an end and batted with the lower order to go past Scotland. The 27-year-old all rounder Onnicha Kamchomphu finished the match with a dramatic six and they chased the target in just 11.4 overs with 3 wickets in hand.
Putthawong was named the Player of the Match for his 4 wickets — she also finished as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 15 wickets in 7 innings. The 20-year-old Scotland batter Darcey Carter finished with the most runs (248) with three fifties in 7 innings.
