Thailand Beat Mongolia by 183 Runs — Phanuphong Thongsa's Hat-Trick and Akshaykumar Yadav's 93 Not Out

Thailand came into this game with three defeats, one of them by just seven runs against Bahrain. Sometimes a side needs only one morning when everything goes right, and at Bayuemas Oval on Friday, it did. Akshaykumar Yadav batted through the innings for 93 not out, Thailand made 196 for 2, and then their bowlers needed less than 12 overs to finish the job.

The moment of the day came in the ninth over of Mongolia's reply. Phanuphong Thongsa bowled Temuulen Amarmend, Munkhsuld Erdenebat and Tumursukh Turmunkh with consecutive balls, a hat-trick of stumps knocked back. Mongolia were all out for 13. Thailand won by 183 runs.

Thailand lost Chaloemwong Chatphaisan lbw to Luwsanzundui Erdenebulgan in the first over, with four on the board. Yadav and Pattarapol Jirapatananukul simply rebuilt. They added 97 from 69 balls, and when Jirapatananukul was caught for 45 at the end of the 12th over, Thailand were 101 for 2 with a platform to attack from.

Austin Lazarus took that invitation. He and Yadav added 95 from 48 balls without being parted, Lazarus making 36 not out from 22. Yadav, who made 26 against Kuwait, finished on 93 not out from 65 balls with six fours and four sixes. He batted through all 20 overs.

Then the ball did the rest. Thanadon Buri bowled three overs for one run, two of them maidens, and bowled Gandemberel Ganbold. Kamron Senamontree took four wickets in four overs with two maidens: two bowled, one caught by Phatummakan Donkaew and one by his namesake Nopphon Senamontree. And then came Thongsa. Of Mongolia's ten wickets, eight were bowled.

There is no hiding from 13 all out, and Mongolia will not try to. But the morning was not all bleak. Erdenebulgan struck in the first over of the match. Battulga Tamjidsuren bowled his four overs for 24 runs against a batting side that made 196, and Tumursukh Turmunkh broke a 97-run stand by dismissing Jirapatananukul.

With the bat, Uugan-Erdene Batjargal faced 12 balls and Namsrai Bat-yalalt 16, which is the kind of patience that wins time at the crease, even if the runs did not follow. Ganbold made 5, the top score. The lesson is a simple one and the hardest to learn: survival first, then rotation. Mongolia face Bahrain on October 11.

Thailand chose to bat in the morning start at Bayuemas Oval, and the pitch rewarded batters who stayed in. Yadav, Jirapatananukul and Lazarus between them hit 15 fours and five sixes. Later, Thailand's bowlers found it just as rewarding to bowl straight: eight of the ten wickets were bowled. Thailand's attack conceded only three extras in 11.3 overs, while Mongolia's gave away 21 across 20, and that discipline was part of the gap between the sides.

Two overs, one maiden, two runs, four wickets. Thongsa came on with Mongolia 10 for 5 and, in the space of three balls in the ninth over, bowled Amarmend, Erdenebat and Turmunkh. A hat-trick is a rare and lovely thing in any cricket — three balls in a row, each one asking the same question and each one getting the same answer. He came back in the 11th over to bowl Zoljavkhlan Shurentsetseg as well.

He made 5 against Kuwait the day before and did not bat here. On a day when Yadav made 93, it says something about Thongsa's two overs that they were the ones remembered at the end of it.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview, so there is no prediction to review.

After 12 matches in Qualifier A, Bahrain lead with eight points from four games. Kuwait have six from four (net run rate +4.277), followed by Bhutan (four points, +1.617) and Qatar (four points, +1.513). Thailand move to two points from four games, with a net run rate of +1.026 after this result. Myanmar and Mongolia have yet to win.

Mongolia play Bahrain on October 11 at the Selangor Turf Club. Thailand's next game is against Myanmar on October 12 at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval in Bangi.