Led by opener Natthakan Chantham’s 61, Thailand registered an inspiring four-wicket win over Pakistan at the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2022 in Sylhet, Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Chasing 117 to win, Thailand got off to a terrific start thanks to its openers. However, spinner Tuba Hassan was able to turn the tide in Pakistan’s favour with two wickets in one over. Chantham accelerated the score and scored the decisive runs when the run rate appeared to be getting tough. Following her dismissal in the 19th over with Thailand needing 10 runs in the final over, Nattaya Boochatham and Rosenan Kanoh held on to their nerves to get the historic win with one ball remaining.
In the first innings, Pakistan scored 116/5 with Sidra Ameen scoring 56 runs off 64 balls. Sornarin Tippoch took 2/20 and several other bowlers pitched in with wickets in efficient periods, eventually slowing Pakistan’s run rate.
With this victory over Pakistan in the Women’s Asia Cup T20, Thailand opened up the fight for the top-four spots in the tournament.
Here’s a look at the reactions from the match:
The sheer happiness after scoring those winning runs ✨The Thailand🇹🇭 Team won our hearts and the match today@ThailandCricket #ACC #AsiaCup2022 #WomensAsiaCup pic.twitter.com/atJwwG7wfh
— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) October 6, 2022
Nattakan Chantam reaches her half century and what a way to get to the milestone!!
— Cricket Thailand (@ThailandCricket) October 6, 2022
What an amazing innings this is turning out to be!!@ThailandCricket need 20 runs in the final three overs#PAKvTHAI #WomensAsiaCup2022 #ACC pic.twitter.com/7W9whykjtT
Greatest day in Thailand cricket history - they have beaten Pakistan in the Women's Asia Cup.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 6, 2022
Pure joy 😁
— ICC (@ICC) October 6, 2022
What a win, @ThailandCricket 🌟#WomensAsiaCup2022pic.twitter.com/2biBESwySy
Thailand Cricket Team and their ritual of bowing down together as a mark of respect to the ground 😍
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 6, 2022
What a team 👏#AsiaCup2022 #CricketTwitter @ThailandCricket pic.twitter.com/lkVTWJfCOB
🇹🇭 Terrific, Tremendous, Thailand pull off the biggest win in their T20I history to blow the #WomensAsiaCup wide open as they beat Pakistan for the first time in Sylhet
— Andrew Leonard (@CricketBadge) October 6, 2022
Here's the winning moments as Nattaya Boochatham hits the winning runs! pic.twitter.com/yKt5JYmGaf
Thailand women have now recorded wins against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Bangladesh and Pakistan. https://t.co/wsaJfk1J6q
— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) October 6, 2022
What a day @ThailandCricket . Hopefully, the start of a comeback after a disappointing few months.
— Karthik Raj (@kartcric) October 6, 2022
This video beats everything else in cricket this year hands down... Thailand ❤️#WomensAsiaCup2022pic.twitter.com/l1o3OiCkmj
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) October 6, 2022
THAILAND HAVE BEATEN PAKISTAN IN THE WOMEN'S ASIA CUP!
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) October 6, 2022
What a moment for Thai cricket. Awesome victory, well played. 👏👏 👏
Thailand beating Pakistan in the #WomensAsiaCup has to be a massive moment in the women’s game!
— Hemant (@hemantbuch) October 6, 2022
Natthakan Chantam scored a blitzkrieg of a 61 from 51 balls to help lead her team to victory against a formidable Pakistan team.
— AsianCricketCouncil (@ACCMedia1) October 6, 2022
How many more fifties will Natthakan score this tournament? @ThailandCricket #PAKvTHAI #WomensAsiaCup2022 #AsianCricketCouncil #ACC pic.twitter.com/ymxuBMUkPf
Stuff of history! Thailand beat Pakistan in a T20I, something they had high hopes of doing in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. Natthakan Chantham, as it has been for some time now, quite the star and the face of @ThailandCricket. Superb! #AsiaCup2022 #WomensAsiaCup #PAKvTHA
— S. Sudarshanan (@Sudarshanan7) October 6, 2022
A silent cricket revolution is on in Thailand. Their Women 's cricket team has been regularly defeating oppositions way above their grade for the last 2 years. It's plain sad that the Thai Women will not be playing in the T20 World Cup next year. #WomensAsiaCup @ThailandCricket
— Akash Anurag Jha (@AkashAnuragJha1) October 6, 2022
If you didn't watch this game, make sure to catch up on the highlights. What drama! Especialy with Thailand missing out on qualification for the T20 World Cup 2023, it's great that the #WomensAsiaCup provides this stage and exposure. And they're showing they belong! https://t.co/PIRadLgSfF
— Snehal Pradhan (@SnehalPradhan) October 6, 2022
Upset central 🚨
— Annesha Ghosh (@ghosh_annesha) October 6, 2022
Thailand beat Pakistan in the 2022 Women's Asia Cup in Sylhet.
Chasing 117, Natthakan Chantham's 51-ball 61 set up Thailand's four-wicket win. #AsiaCup2022 | #WomensAsiaCup https://t.co/I2Odz7wokW
Most Player of the match awards in T20Is in 2022@EshaOza1998 5@NatthakanJeans 4
— Mohit Shah (@mohit_shah17) October 6, 2022
Openers from @EmiratesCricket and @ThailandCricket on top.#WomensAsiaCup #AsiaCupT20
These are the kinds of results that further underline the need to expand these world tournaments. A 10 team #T20WorldCup is far too few when there is so much improvement happening around the world. #MoreTeamsPlease https://t.co/LPUjuz6Gmp
— Ananya Upendran (@a_upendran11) October 6, 2022