Hong Kong won toss and elected to bat

With the shock upset of Malaysia losing to Myanmar, Hong Kong looked to secure their place in the 5th/6th place final. With one change in the squad, Mehreen Yousaf in for Annie Ho, Hong Kong looked to bat first against a youthful Thailand “A’.
Hong Kong got off to a fast start with Bella Poon scoring 26 off 29 balls with Yasmin Daswani in support. Both openers took apart the loose deliveries on offer from the Thai bowlers, Phannita Maya and Siriwimon Srisan. Srisan struggled to the point she was taken off on the first ball of her 3rd over as Hong Kong made 45/0 after the Powerplay.
Poon unfortunately was dismissed by a delivery shaping in and hitting leg stump early in the 7th over ending her innings with a career best 28 off 32 balls. Hong Kong continued to turn the screw getting to 50/1 in the first ball of the 9th over. Hong Kong’s continued to accumulate, getting to 67/1 before the 2nd wicket fell with Daswani mistiming a pull shot and Thailand’s Manatsawee Jatho taking a great catch running backwards at mid-wicket.
Jaswinder Kaur, who had seen herself through the middle overs, soon got out getting bowled off her bottom edge. With Hong Kong 69/3, Kary Chan and Mariko Hill had the last 5 overs to see off. However, Hill tried to play Jatho too square and was out LBW. Ruchitha Venkatesh followed her back soon after when she was bowled by Jatho.
Once again it was Kary Chan who needed to see off the final overs to get Hong Kong to a good score. She started to try push the tempo and was ably supported by Jasmine Titmuss as they brought Hong Kong to 77/3 with 3 overs to go.
The next over proved to be a big one for Hong Kong as they scored 12 runs off it as Chan and Titmuss seemed to find form. The last 2 overs continued to be fruitful for Hong Kong as they brought up their 100 with 5 balls to spare in the innings. Hong Kong finished with 109/5 off their 20 overs, passing 100 for the first time in the T20 Smash.
Jasmine Titmuss looked to start the innings strong for Hong Kong as Thailand A were looking at a big chase to win. Titmuss struck with a typical outswinger’s wicket managing to cartwheel Waralee Saengsong’s off stuff out of the ground. Hong Kong captain Mariko Hill took the other end in an effort to intimidate the young Thai batsmen but the young players remained unfazed continuing to battle against Hong Kong’s seam attack.
Although struggling against the opening bowlers, both Manatsawee Jatho and Rosenanee Kanoh saw them off as Alison Siu and Betty Chan came on to finish off the Powerplay. However, Hong Kong struck again with Jatho being caught and bowled by Siu. Sinlak Trinalong came on to join Kanoh at the crease as Hong Kong looked to capitalise on their position. After the first 6 overs, Thailand “A” reached 8/2 off 6 overs.
Siu again struck in her 2nd over, finally dismissing Kanoh with a ball chipped into the air with Kary Chan underneath it. Sunida Chaturongrattana was out as quick as she came in as Siu was involved once again with a great throw to Betty Chan who took off the bails as the Thai batsmen mixed up their calling. Suwanan Khiaoto joined Trinarong at the crease.
But Hong Kong continued to turn the screw as Ruchitha Venkatesh bowled Trinarong through the gate. After the 11th over, Thailand “A” got to 20/5 off 11 overs.
However, Venkatesh’s 2nd over saw Phannita Maya and Khiaoto score 11 more to get to 31/5. Mehreen Yousaf looked to rectify things with an exciting over at the other end with the batters teasing half chances past Hong Kong’s eager fielders at Short mid-wicket and cover.
Kary Chan looked to add more pressure to the batsmen as she continually attacked the stumps and with the introduction of Betty Chan from the other end. The dot ball pressure resulted in dropped catch at mid-on from Alison Siu. Both Khiaoto and Maya were looking to progress the partnership when B. Chan clean bowled Maya to keep Thailand at 42/6 after 14.5 overs.
Not accepting that her namesake had taken a wicket, K.Chan took a top edged caught and bowled to keep Thailand “A” in check. With Khiaoto out, the new partnership of Thanchanok Phopluk and Soraya Lateh looked to see off the remaining overs in the game.
Hong Kong saw off the final overs with relatively little entertainment as Titmuss and K. Chan bowled the final over as Thailand “A” reached 58/7 off their 20 overs.
Hong Kong now progress to face Myanmar once again for 5th place at the Asian Institute of Technology tomorrow morning.
Scorecard
Notable Performances
Bella Poon – 28 off 32 ballsKary Chan – 22 off 21 ballsYasmin Daswani – 19 off 29 ballsAlison Siu – 3-0-5-2Jasmine Titmuss – 3-1-6-1