As expected the top four teams from this year’s ACC Women’s Premier Cup all advanced through to gain qualification for this season’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup as Thailand, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia each took comfortable quarter-finals wins.
All four sides featured in the knockout rounds as group winners after both finished top of their respective groups in the round-robin stage of play, and all four were too good for their quarter-final opposition on Tuesday to keep alive hopes of lifting the trophy.
KUALA LUMPUR: Thailand made it two wins on the spin as they continued their unbeaten run with a 56-run victory over Nepal. Kylie Reid, the bowler who was forced to enter on her heels after a long opening partnership for Thailand, conceded 4 for 16 in four overs, knocking over the last two as part of her devastating spell. After being invited to bat first; we scored well with wickets at regular intervals and built solid partnerships, finishing at what appeared to be a decent score of 130 off our forty overs thanks primarily through wicketkeeper-batter Nannapat Koncharoenkai capitalising on that momentum with a brilliant half-century (62). From here, their bowlers seized the initiative of the contest, with Nepal managing an underwhelming 74 for 7 to easily book their place in the semi-final.
In the quarter-final, the UAE thrashed Malaysia as well. Opener Theertha Satish scored an unbeaten 65 runs as the UAE posted 138 for 2 off their allocated overs. Malaysia failed to keep up with the required run rate and ended at 86 for 5, giving a comprehensive 52-run victory to UAE,
On the other hand, in Bangi, Hong Kong produced a fine all-round performance to beat Japan by 41 runs. Yasmin Daswani starred with the bat at number four for Hong Kong, finishing with 55 from just 36 balls while bowlers Maryam Bibi and Marina Lamplough restricted Japan throughout. Bibi took 3/38 off 9 overs and Lamplough with two important wickets.
This has been, of course, the most one-sided. Our third quarter-final match-up – between Indonesia and Oman. On the batting front, Indonesia captain Ni Putu Ayu Nanda Sakarini led her side to an aggregate of 137 for 7 with an unbeaten performance of 51. Next, the Oman batting lineup collapsed like a pack of cards, falling for 24 runs in 11.5 overs – their lowest score in ODIs. The chief destroyer with the ball was Ni Made Putri Suwandewi, who returned stunning figures of 4 for 11.
Thailand will play Indonesia, and Hong Kong will meet the UAE in Kuala Lumpur for the semi-finals The victors will advance one stage closer to winning the Premier Cup, while all four semi-finalists have already booked their place in next year’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup.
