Pakistan survived a major scare from Thailand before completing a tense three-wicket chase to reach the women’s cricket semifinals at the Asian Games on Thursday.
Chasing a revised target of 92 from 11 overs in a rain-affected quarter-final, Pakistan slumped to 47 for four before captain Fatima Sana led a 25-run over that turned the contest in their favour. They reached their target with two balls to spare.
The match was delayed by almost two hours because of a wet outfield, and Pakistan opted to bowl after winning the toss. The powerplay was reduced to 3.2 overs, with Sana striking early to dismiss experienced Thailand opener Natthakan Chantham.
Nannapat Koncharoenkai then anchored Thailand’s innings, finding boundaries around the ground during a partnership with captain Naruemol Chaiwai. She accelerated after the sixth over, hitting consecutive fours off Umm-e-Hani in a 14-run over.
Koncharoenkai reached 49 in the final over but was denied a half-century when Sana trapped her lbw with a full delivery. Sana finished with two for 22, while Nashra Sandhu dismissed Chaiwai as Thailand posted 91 for four.
Pakistan made a flying start to the chase through Shawaal Zulfiqar, who hit three fours and a six in the opening three overs.
Thailand, however, struck back spectacularly as four Pakistan wickets fell for 11 runs in 14 balls.
Zulfiqar was dismissed for 25 off 14 balls by off-spinner Onnicha Kamchomphu, who also removed Ayesha Zafar for one, Gull Feroza for 16 and Aliya Riaz.
Pakistan had slipped from 36 without loss to 47 for four and needed 45 runs from the final 30 balls.
Sana then took control, hitting two fours and a six through the leg side before a chance at long-off was dropped. The resulting misfield brought another boundary, and Eyman Fatima finished the over with a six as Pakistan collected 25 runs to reduce the requirement to 19 from 18 balls.
Sana fell at the start of the next over for 21 off 13 balls, and only three runs came from the over. Eyman Fatima was then caught in the 10th over with Pakistan still 15 runs short.
Tuba Hassan revived the chase with a six and a four, leaving Pakistan needing four from seven balls. She was caught at fine leg off the final delivery of the penultimate over, but Eman Naseer and Umm-e-Hani held their nerve, completing the chase with four singles from the next four balls.
The victory extends Pakistan’s strong record at the Asian Games. They are two-time gold medallists in the women’s cricket competition.
Pakistan also recorded another victory over Thailand after beating them by 35 runs in the Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai earlier this month.
Pakistan will face the winner of the Malaysia-Sri Lanka quarterfinal in the semifinal on September 20.
Earlier on Thursday, Bangladesh advanced to the semifinals after rain washed out their quarter-final against China. They will face the winner of India’s quarter-final against Japan on September 20.
Source: Khaleej Times