It has been 15 years since Nepal last defeated Thailand in women's cricket. In the process, Thailand has expanded its reach in world cricket from an associate cricketing perspective.

When the ICC Women's Twenty20 World Cup Global Qualifiers began in Kathmandu on Sunday, Nepal had the opportunity to defeat Thailand for the first time since 2011. That too on its own soil. But it did not take long for Nepal to fall, just as it had done at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Stadium in Kirtipur. In the end, the Nepali team was forced to suffer an 8-wicket defeat. 

Nepal, who were invited to bat after losing the toss, were all out for 122 runs in their full 20 overs. They had scored 47 runs without loss in the first 5 overs, but then Nepal lost 10 wickets for just 75 runs in the next 15 overs. 

Although Samjhana Khadka and Bindu Rawal gave a great start, Nepal could not take advantage of it as the middle order collapsed. After Samjhana was dismissed, Nepal's runs were curtailed and wickets kept falling. Samjhana scored 26 runs in 11 balls with 6 fours and Bindu scored 44 runs in 56 balls with 6 fours. This is Bindu's personal high score. Her previous highest score was 28 not out against Kuwait in 2019.

Vice-captain Pooja Mahato was dismissed for 12 off 17 balls, captain Indu Verma for 6 off 6 balls, and Kavita Kunwar for 2 off 4 balls. Former captain Rubina Chhetri was dismissed for 17 runs with 2 sixes and 1 four. Kavita Joshi scored only 3 runs off 7 balls.

'According to the start that Samjhana and Bindu made, we scored only 30-40 runs. We played well in the first 10 overs. I feel like we could not score a big score when Pooja and I got out,' said Nepal captain Indu Verma, 'If the middle order had played responsibly, it would have been 150 runs, we were a bit of a letdown. I think Rubina Didi and I should have played responsibly.' 

Sita Rana Magar was dismissed for zero. Riya Sharma 4 and Suman Bista were dismissed for zero. Thai player Thipatcha Puthavong took 4 wickets. She gave away 27 runs in 4 overs. Onicha Kamchompu took 2 wickets for 24 runs in 4 overs.

Thailand scored 125 runs in 17 overs. Officer Suwanchonrathi and Nathakan Chantham gave the Thai team a great start by putting on 66 runs in 9 overs. Suwanchonrathi was bowled by Sita for 28 runs in 32 balls with 2 fours. 

Sita also dismissed Nanapat Koncharoenkai LBW. But by then it was too late for Nepal. Koncharoenkai, who was dismissed when Thailand was 10 runs away from victory, had scored 32 runs in 25 balls with 6 fours. Chantham was named Player of the Match. She scored an unbeaten 57 runs in 39 balls with 9 fours and 1 six. 

Nepal lost all three matches against Thailand in the triangular series last year. Thailand and Nepal qualified for this global tournament by becoming the winner and runner-up in the Asian qualifiers held in Bangkok in March last year. Thailand has already played the 2020 Twenty20 World Cup, while Nepal is playing the global qualifiers for the first time. 

‘Our game has improved a lot, we will definitely come back stronger in the upcoming matches. We still have a game to play, we will continue to improve our game,’ said captain Indu, ‘If we continue to play according to the plan, we can play better. We are learning by playing against big teams.’ 

Netherlands win

The Netherlands defeated Zimbabwe by 22 runs in the other Group ‘B’ match on the first day. The Netherlands, which has played the Twenty20 World Cup four times, was all out for 122 runs in 19 overs. Zimbabwe had a great bowling performance after Christabel Chatonzwa took 5 wickets. But Zimbabwe, hoping to reach the World Cup for the first time, could only score 100 runs for the loss of 8 wickets despite playing the full 20 overs.

In Group ‘A’, contenders Bangladesh and Ireland have started winningly. Bangladesh defeated the USA by 21 runs. Batting first, Bangladesh scored 158 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. In reply, the USA could only score 137 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.