Thailand qualify for Women's Asia Cup 2022 Semi-finals alongside India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan

Four teams made it to the next round of the Women’s Asia Cup 2022, that is the semi-finals, before the conclusion of all the fixtures on the final day of the league stage. The hosts Bangladesh suffered a major setback as their last fixture against the United Arab Emirates was washed out and as a result, failed to qualify for the semi-finals, which confirmed a spot for Thailand.

Out of the seven teams that participated in the continental event, UAE, Malaysia, and Thailand had been the underdogs of the tournament, solely because of the team’s experience as a whole, as compared to the other four nations- India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. But the three teams grabbed each and every opportunity that was thrown in front of them and made the best use of it.

The biggest surprise in the tournament was Thailand defeating Pakistan. That was the moment that brought a major turn in the tournament, and it served as one of the major reasons behind Thailand’s qualification for the semi-finals. Bangladesh’s fixture against UAE before the semi-finals was very critical for the defending champions, but rain played a spoilsport, which put curtains on Bangladesh’s campaign.

Thailand's journey from losses to back-to-back wins

Thailand lost their first two games of the tournament against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but bounced back stronger in the game against Pakistan and took the whole cricketing world by surprise. The team then secured another win by defeating the United Arab Emirates team by 19 runs. The Naruemol Chaiwai-led Thailand bagged their third consecutive victory when they defeated Malaysia.

They lost their final game against India on Monday, October 10, which kept them on the verge of qualification. Thailand's tournament run would have ended if Bangladesh had defeated UAE in Tuesday's game which was ultimately called off due to rain, as the defending champions had a considerably higher Net Run Rate than Thailand.

But things favoured Thailand, and they scripted history by qualifying for the semi-finals of the Asia Cup for the first time in the history of the tournament. Thailand will now face India in their semi-final fixture on October 13, Thursday. It would be a challenge for both the sides as the winning team moves to the grand finale and the losing team bows out of the tournament.