DUBAI
Zimbabwe and PNG got the better of Thailand and UAE respectively in the afternoon games on the second day of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2022.
Opting to bat first, Thailand were in big trouble early on after losing wickets in quick succession. Zimbabwe’s bowling trio of Nomvelo Sibanda, Josephine Nkomo and Audrey Mazvishaya made life difficult for the Thailand batters in the opening exchange that saw them lose half their side inside the first seven overs.
Nannapat Koncharoenkai and Sornnarin Tippoch were forced to drop anchor to avoid getting bundled out for cheap. However, it meant that they had to bat extremely cautiously. Their 22-run stand came off 47 balls. Koncharoenkai remained unbeaten on 47 as Thailand ended up with a modest 86/6 in their 20 overs.
Sharne Mayers and Kelis Ndlovu got Zimbabwe off to a quick start and within the first five overs, had knocked off half the target. Mayer fell after the Powerplay and Zimbabwe lost three quick wickets thereafter, including that of Ndlovu four runs short of a fifty. However, they chased down the target with more than three overs to spare to go on top of Group B in the table.
Put in to bat first, Sibona Jimmy and Naoani Vare got the team off to a solid start with a 29-run opening stand. Jimmy then added 35 runs for the second wicket along with Tanya Ruma with the former assuming the role of the aggressor.
Once Jimmy departed, Ruma took on the UAE bowling attack, starting with three consecutive sixes off Vaishnave Mahesh in the 13th over. PNG were 115/2 with five overs remaining before UAE fought back brilliantly to restrict PNG to 148/6. Bowling all four of her overs on the trot in the end, Samaira Dharnidharka returned with brilliant figures of 3/22. Ruma got to a well-deserved half-century laced with 4 fours and sixes each.
UAE got off to a brisk start in the Powerplay, scoring 46 runs while losing just one wicket. The second-wicket stand between Theertha Satish and Kavisha Egodage was worth 53 runs and put UAE in a commanding position in the chase.
However, the wicket of Egodage triggered a collapse and UAE never managed to recover from it. From 77/2, UAE could only manage 119/8.
