Zimbabwe edged closer to reaching the semi-finals of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier with a comfortable six-wicket victory over a strong Thailand side in their second Group B match at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, UAE on Monday afternoon.
The Lady Chevrons are now clear at the top of Group B with two wins in as many matches after beating Papua New Guinea by eight wickets in their first match on Sunday.
After her exceptional all-round performance on Sunday, Kelis Ndhlovu was the star of the show again for Zimbabwe with an entertaining 46 off 40 balls in addition to a wicket.
She was duly named the Player of the Match.
16-year old Kelis Ndhlovu celebrating her player of the match award. She hit 46 runs off 40 balls and took 1-14.
It is her debut qualifier.
đź‘Źđź‘Źđź‘Źđź‘Źđź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/FOMX9Cy0Nh
— Zimbabwe Cricket – Women (@zimbabwewomen) September 19, 2022
Opting to bat first, Thailand were in big trouble early on after losing wickets in quick succession.
Zimbabwe’s bowling trio of Nomvelo Sibanda, Josephine Nkomo and Audrey Mazvishaya made life difficult for the Thailand batters in the opening exchange that saw them lose half their side inside the first seven overs.
Nannapat Koncharoenkai and Sornnarin Tippoch were forced to drop anchor to avoid getting bundled out for cheap. However, it meant that they had to bat extremely cautiously. Their 22-run stand came off 47 balls.
Koncharoenkai remained unbeaten on 47 as Thailand ended up with a modest 86 for six in their 20 overs.
Sharne Mayers and Kelis Ndlovu got Zimbabwe off to a quick start and within the first five overs, had knocked off half the target.
Mayer fell after the Powerplay and Zimbabwe lost three quick wickets thereafter, including that of Ndlovu four runs short of a fifty.
However, they chased down the target with more than three overs to spare to go on top of Group B in the table.