Hong Kong book semi-final berth

Hong Kong Women 41 for 4 (N Sirisuwan 2-16) beat Thailand Women 40 ( Li 3 -7) by six wickets
Scorecard

Hong Kong booked their place in the semi-final of the ACC women's tournament with a six-wicket victory over Thailand at Johor.

Thailand put up a gutsy performance, but Hong Kong's class and composure saw them through. Winning the toss, Hong Kong captain Neisha Pratt put Thailand in under cloudy conditions. The Thai top order confidently negotiated the new ball and scored runs against one of the best attacks in the competition. Hong Kong were guilty of bowling short on the rather slow 'moonchong clay' surface.

Pratt got an early breakthrough for Hong Kong, after which Chan Sau Har picked up the critical second wicket in the 14th over, of opener Arissa. From then on, the Hong Kong bowlers dominated, with the last eight Thai wickets accounting for only 12 runs. Fifteen-year old Godiva Li bagged three wickets in her second spell, all three deliveries being yorkers.

In reply, Hong Kong had a jittery start, losing an early wicket. The Thailand team, marshalled by captain Sornnarin Tippoch, were enthusiastic in the field as they defended their total of 40. The shuffled Hong Kong batting line-up looked wobbly against the Thai attack, and wickets tumbled.

At the fall of the fourth wicket came Pratt - who had to change in a hurry after opting not to open - and she steadied the chase with Keenu Gill to eventually take them home.

Lal Jayasinghe, the Hong Kong coach, said after the win: "All of our bowlers with the exception of Neisha Pratt are under 18 and their lack of experience of bowling on turf showed at the beginning but once they worked things out, they made things happen."