Thailand claim historic win over Bangladesh, Delany stars for Ireland
Netherlands suffer 7 for 12 collapse from winning position while Francisca Chipare rescued Zimbabwe in a thriller against USA
ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2021
Sornnarin Tippoch’s 69 and 1 for 35 and Nattaya Boochatham’s 5 for 26 proved pivotal in Thailand’s historic 16-run DLS-decided Group B win over Bangladesh in the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers. This was their second one-day victory over a team with ODI status, the first one having come earlier in the tournament, over Zimbabwe.
The joy of Thailand after they upset Bangladesh at the #WCWCqualifiers
(via @cricketworldcup) pic.twitter.com/K7KL4qVHl4
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 25, 2021
Given Thailand don’t yet hold ODI status, their victory against Bangladesh has strengthened their chance to seal a Super Six berth in the qualifier, which would ensure them the ODI cachet by virtue of gaining automatic qualification for the next cycle of the expanded, ten-team ICC Women’s Championship.Chasing 177, Tippoch strung a 97 opening stand with Natthakan Chantham (37 off 69), hitting seven fours in her 113-ball knock. Both openers, however, fell in the space of 5.1 overs. By the time rain intervened, Thailand were 132 for 2 in 39.2 overs, 15 runs ahead of their DLS cutoff of 117.Earlier, Thailand’s decision to bowl paid dividends as restricted Bangladesh, unbeaten in the competition until today, to 176 for 8 off 50 overs. Fargana Hoque (51), Murshida Khatun (46), Lata Mondal (29), and Rumana Ahmed (27) were the only batters to make double-digit scores.Thailand trail first-placed Bangladesh, who have a superior net run rate, by one spot on the Group B points table, with both on four points apiece from two wins out of three games.Laura Delany and Orla Prendergast were the stars of the show for Ireland as they defended a total of 199 against Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup qualifiers at Harare. Delany top-scored with 75 even as the rest of her line-up tumbled around her. The 21-year old Dutch legspinner Silver Siegers picked up 4 for 24 to set up what looked like a straightforward chase and for the longest time it was. They were 158 for 3 in the 43rd over with victory very much in sight when Delany popped up with the run-out of Netherlands captain Heather Siegers. That triggered a collapse – seven wickets for 12 runs, three of them to Prendergast – as the game turned completely on its head.Francisca Chipare rescued a Zimbabwe side that was teetering on the brink of defeat, the No. 11 cracking three fours in a 15-ball innings to secure a nail-biting one-wicket victory. USA could only post a total of 131, where their top-scorer was the extras with 23, but their bowlers rallied hard to make a match of it. The 31-year old seamer Moksha Chaudhary grabbed four wickets for herself as Zimbabwe slumped from 73 for 2 to 97 for 8. But even as the game seemed lost, up stepped a most unlikely hero. The 23-year old Chipare (16*) was one of only two players in the entire game with a strike rate better than run-a-ball.