Thailand Beat Myanmar by 9 Wickets — Phanuphong Thongsa's 4 for 13 Leaves Myanmar 52 All Out

Twenty-four hours after being bowled out for 34 by Kuwait, Myanmar were 3 for 3 after eight balls against Thailand. Chanchai Pengkumta had Pyae Phyo Wai caught in the first over, and Thanadon Buri bowled Htet Lin Oo and had Khin Aye caught behind in the second. Paing Danu's 17 and Htet Lin Aung's unbeaten 12 from 28 balls got them to 52, which was 18 more than the day before, and Phanuphong Thongsa's 4 for 13 made sure it was no more than that.

Thailand did not hurry. Akshaykumar Yadav made 32 not out from 34 balls, and Thailand won by 9 wickets, with 61 balls remaining.

Thailand used seven bowlers and five of them took wickets, which tells you this was a collective effort before it was anyone's in particular. Pengkumta and Buri did the early damage. Nopphon Senamontree had Ko Ko Lin Thu stumped by Phiriyapong Suanchuai at 20 for 4. Then Thongsa took over the middle: Danu bowled, Aung Ko Ko bowled, Kyaw Zin Lin caught and bowled, Ye Naing Tun caught by Yadav. Myanmar went from 37 for 5 to 44 for 8 in the space of four overs. Austin Lazarus, given a single over, ended it with two wickets in the 16th.

The chase was measured, and perhaps that was the right way. Chaloemwong Chatphaisan made 10 from 21 before Kaung Htet Kyaw bowled him with 36 on the board, and Yadav, who had also held a catch, saw it through with a four and a six in his 32. Nine overs and five balls for 53 is not quick, but with 61 balls in hand nobody needed it to be. After losses to Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, this was Thailand's second win of the tournament, and the first since their 183-run victory over Mongolia.

It would be easy to be unkind, and I would rather not be. Myanmar's batting has produced 34 and 52 on consecutive days, with five ducks here, and the honest reading is that the top order is not yet surviving the new ball: 3 for 3 against Thailand, a wicket to the first ball of the match against Kuwait. But Paing Danu's 17 included a four and a six and was the top score, Ko Ko Lin Thu's 10 came with a boundary, and Htet Lin Aung batted 28 balls for his unbeaten 12 while the innings fell away around him. These are small things. In a programme at this stage, small things are where you start.

With the ball, Pyae Phyo Wai's four overs cost only 16, and Kaung Htet Kyaw bowled Chatphaisan. Myanmar have lost all five of their matches, and they have one left in which to take something from this tournament.

Thailand chose to field. Myanmar scored at 3.25 an over and hit three boundaries in 16 overs; Thailand scored at 5.39 and took nearly ten overs over 53. Those are low numbers on both sides. Four batters bowled and one stumped in the Myanmar innings could mean a surface where the ball was not coming on, or batters who were not quite getting to it, and the scorecard cannot tell us which. What it does say is that Thailand were content to take their time, and nothing in the result argues with that.

Four overs, a maiden, 13 runs, four wickets. Thongsa's wickets came between the eighth over and the twelfth, and they were the ones that mattered. Myanmar had crept from 20 for 4 to 37 and were, in their way, building. Thongsa bowled Danu, the top scorer, then Aung Ko Ko, took a return catch from Kyaw Zin Lin, and had Ye Naing Tun caught by Yadav. A bowler who takes four in the middle overs for 13 has done the job twice over: once with the wickets he took, and once with the runs he never let go of.

Our preview backed Thailand as favourites on form, standings and tournament experience, and that was right: a nine-wicket win with 61 balls to spare. We named Thailand's bowling attack as a unit as the player to watch, suggesting that if they could restrict Myanmar's total, the batters would chase comfortably. Seven bowlers, five with wickets, Myanmar all out for 52; that one landed. For Myanmar, we pointed to the opening partnership as the thing that had to work. It produced two runs from four balls. We were right about what mattered and, unfortunately for Myanmar, right about which way it would go.

One note to add. Our match page suggested Thailand might prefer to bat first and bat big. They won the toss and chose to field instead, and it did not cost them a thing.

Thailand move to four points from five games, level with Bhutan but ahead on net run rate, +1.466 to -0.970. Kuwait and Bahrain lead on ten points, Kuwait having played all six and Bahrain five, and Qatar are third on seven after their no result against Mongolia. With one match left each, neither Thailand nor Bhutan can reach seven, so the top three on points are settled. What remains for Thailand is fourth place and the satisfaction of finishing well.

Myanmar are seventh without a point. Mongolia, with the point they took from the no result against Qatar, sit sixth on one.