Pakistan Women Overcome Thailand Scare to Reach Asian Games Semis

Pakistan flirted with disaster, then punched their way out of it.

Chasing 92 in 11 overs against a sharp and disciplined Thailand attack at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Pakistan’s women looked in control, then rattled, then rescued, before finally staggering over the line by three wickets with two balls to spare. It was messy. It was tense. It was exactly the kind of escape that can harden a side for the business end of a tournament.

At the heart of it all stood captain Fatima Sana.

Sana’s double act

Sana had already justified her decision to bowl first in the truncated quarterfinal. With the outfield still heavy from earlier rain and the game reduced to an 11-over shootout, she struck in the second over and set the tone with the ball, finishing with 2 for 22 as Pakistan kept Thailand on a leash for much of the innings.

Thailand crawled, then suddenly kicked.

The early overs were tight, Pakistan’s seamers and spinners squeezing the scoring and forcing Thailand to work hard for every run. The release came in the seventh over, when Nannapat Koncharoenkai finally broke the shackles. She took Umm-e-Hani for 14, cracking consecutive boundaries that changed the rhythm of the innings and, briefly, the mood of the contest.

Phannita Maya scratched around for 15 off 16 balls before Thailand made a bold, tactical call: she was retired out with two overs left. It proved inspired. Skipper Naruemol Chaiwai walked in and immediately went aerial, striking a six and a four from her first two deliveries to jolt the total forward.

Her cameo was short-lived, but the intent was clear. Koncharoenkai then added another boundary in the final over, only to be trapped in front by Sana for a superb 49 – the innings that underpinned Thailand’s 91 for 4 and gave them something very real to bowl at.

On a damp outfield in a sprint game, it was more than just “competitive”. It was a challenge.

Thailand tighten the noose

Pakistan’s reply began with the swagger of a side expecting to cruise.

Shawaal Zulfiqar flew out of the blocks, carving three fours and a six inside the first three overs. By the time the powerplay segment of this shortened chase was done, Pakistan had 33 on the board and the equation looked routine.

Then the chase turned.

Zulfiqar’s dismissal in the fourth over broke the early momentum, and Thailand seized their opening with relish. Offspinner Onnicha Kamchomphu took control of the middle overs, ripping out three wickets and ripping into Pakistan’s composure. At the other end, Suleeporn Laomi was miserly and ruthless, conceding just three runs in her two overs and removing Ayesha Zafar.

Singles dried up. Boundaries disappeared. The asking rate spiked to 11 an over, and suddenly Pakistan were staring at a genuine upset.

Thailand sensed it. Their fielders buzzed, every dot ball greeted like a wicket. Pakistan, for a few overs, looked stuck.

Captain breaks the game open

Then Sana changed everything again, this time with the bat.

Facing Kamchomphu, who had Pakistan in a chokehold, the captain went on the offensive. She launched three fours and a six in a brutal counter-attack, tearing 21 off the over and flipping the game on its head. The pressure that had been building on Pakistan shifted straight back onto Thailand in the space of six deliveries.

Eyman Fatima joined the surge, thumping a six of her own as the over ballooned to 25 runs. In a match this short, it was the decisive passage, the sort of over that breaks carefully laid bowling plans and tests nerve as much as skill.

Yet Pakistan still found a way to keep it interesting.

Sana fell, her 21-run cameo ending just as she looked set to finish the job herself. Eyman followed in the penultimate over, and with every wicket Thailand’s belief flickered back to life. The finish line was close, but so was the edge.

Tuba’s calm, Thailand’s regret

With the game still twitching, Tuba Hassan stepped up.

She struck a clean six and then a four, blows that dragged Pakistan to the brink and seemed to crush the last of Thailand’s resistance. Her dismissal, late in the piece, came too late to alter the outcome, but underlined how hard Thailand had fought to keep the contest alive.

By the time the final over began, Pakistan needed just four runs. No more heroics, no more drama – just calm, clipped singles. They ticked them off, ball by ball, crossing the line with two deliveries unused at 92 for 7 in 10.4 overs.

Thailand walked off beaten but anything but disgraced. Koncharoenkai’s 49, Kamchomphu’s 3 for 37, Laomi’s strangling spell – all of it combined to push a heavyweight side to the brink.

Pakistan walked off relieved, their semifinal place secured, their captain having dragged them there with bat and ball.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh had progressed to the last four without a ball bowled, advancing from their washed-out quarterfinal against Hong Kong, China on higher seeding.

Pakistan had no such luxury. They had to survive a scare. And thanks to Fatima Sana’s nerve and a late burst from Tuba Hassan, they did.