The Bhutanese cricket team suffered an eight-wicket defeat from Thailand on Saturday. This is Bhutan’s second defeat at the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 Asia B qualifiers.
Bhutan has played three matches so far.
Past records against Thailand for the Bhutanese team is in the balance now. Bhutan came out winners when the two teams met in the ACC Eastern Region Cup final in February.
In the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 Asia B qualifiers, however, Bhutan had already shown its batting weakness during its first match of the tournament against Malaysia.
Thailand, well aware of Bhutan’s batting frailties, asked Bhutan to bat first after winning the toss.
The decision worked a treat for the Thailand bowlers.
Despite a good start, Bhutan lost wickets at regular intervals and was ultimately bowled out with just a meagre 82 runs on the scoreboard.
Thailand took just 13.3 overs to reach the target. A quick fire 25 runs from captain Daniel Jacobs and a steady 36 runs for Nicholas Janes helped Thailand’s run chase.
The Saturday’s defeat has reduced Bhutan’s 2020 ICC T20 World Cup qualification prospects. The country now needs to win all their remaining three matches to progress to the next round of qualifiers.
On Tuesday, Bhutan will take on Nepal, a team that had played in a T20 world cup before.
