SEA Games 2023: Thailand defend lowest total in women’s T20I history

History was made in the women’s T20I cricket on Thursday, May 4, when Thailand defended the lowest score ever by a women’s team in international cricket. Batting first, Naruemol Chaiwai-led side posted only 53 runs on the board as Malaysia pacer, Winifred Duraisingam, picked up three wickets while Mahirah Izzati Ismail and Nur Dania Syuhada picked up two wickets each.

When it comes to the chase, Malaysia lost their first three wickets in just four runs. After that, wickets kept falling from one end, but Elsa Hunter kept fighting as she scored 19 runs off 32 deliveries. Notably, other than her, no other batter scored in double digits and on top of that, five of their batters failed to open their tally.

In the end, Thailand managed to restrict Malaysia to 41 runs and won the match by 12 runs. 19-year-old slow left-arm orthodox Thipatcha Putthawong picked up three wickets while Nattaya Boochatham picked up two.

Ahead of the Malaysia fixture, Thailand annihilated the Philippines in their first match at the SEA Games

In the second match of the ongoing  SEA Games Women’s Twenty20 Cricket Competition, Thailand absolutely decimated the Philippines, winning the game by ten wickets. Batting first, the Josie Arimas-led side posted only nine runs on the board as Thipatcha Putthawong picked up four wickets while Onnicha Kamchomphu picked up three wickets. Seven of the Philippines’ batters failed to open their tally, as Thailand chased the total in just four deliveries.

Now, with two back-to-back wins under their belt, Thailand are at the top of Group A while the other two teams, Malaysia and Philipines are yet to open their tally. When it comes to group B, Indonesia with two points are at the top of the table while Singapore with two points are placed second on the table. Cambodia, who are yet to open their account are at the bottom.

Notably, this is the second time, the game of Cricket is part of the South East Asian games. The game of Cricket first featured in the 2017 edition of the SEA Games which took place in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and consisted of both the 50-Over and T20 formats. The ongoing SEA Games 2023 is being played at the AZ Group Cricket Oval in Phnom Penh, with both the men and women’s teams taking part, respectively.