Having been tortured by Thailand in the past, the USA Women gave their opposition a taste of their own medicine on Friday to win a de facto elimination match and keep the American dream alive for a maiden Women's T20 World Cup appearance. 

Photo credit: Peter Della Penna

By Peter Della Penna in Kathmandu, Nepal (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
Led by key contributions from Pooja Ganesh and eventual Player of the Match Tara Norris, the USA Women erased the haunting memories of one-sided losses of the past to help record their first ever win over Thailand in a 28-run triumph on Friday at Mulpani Cricket Ground on the second match day of the Super Six stage of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Nepal. The result eliminated Thailand from contention to reach next June’s T20 World Cup in England while USA remains very much alive heading into their last-day matinee showdown with Scotland. 
 
USA posted a total of 128 batting first thanks to Ganesh’s 35 not out off 25 balls and a key cameo from Norris in which she made 18 off 13 balls alongside Ganesh during a 36-run sixth-wicket partnership after entering at 62 for 5 in the 13^th over. Norris then blitzed Thailand’s opening pair of Natthakan Chantham and Nannaphat Chaihan to leave Thailand reeling at 12 for 2 after 16 balls of the chase and USA maintained control the rest of the way with a disciplined pace heavy attack that resulted in Thailand eventually being bowled out for 100 in 19 overs. 

Combined with Scotland’s 90-run loss to Bangladesh earlier on Friday, it meant that the net run rate differential between Scotland and USA had almost completely vanished by the end of play. In what is essentially a winner-take-all contest in the final match of the tournament set for Sunday afternoon at Tribhuvan University Stadium, USA can clinch a berth in the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England by beating Scotland to draw level with them on four points and then pass them on the net run rate tiebreaker through one of several scenarios: 
 
For a USA first innings total of anything 151 and below, USA must win by at least nine runs; 
 
For a USA first innings total of anything 152 and above, USA must win by at least 10 runs; 
 
Chasing any Scotland first innings total of 159 or under (target 160 or less) with 7 balls remaining; 

Chasing a Scotland first innings total of 160 or greater (target of 161 or more) with 8 balls remaining; 
 
Finally, both of these chasing scenarios can also still be done with even fewer balls remaining if USA hits a 4 or 6 to win the match with scores level (i.e. chasing a target of 160 or less with 3 balls remaining if a 6 is hit with scores level). 

All of this was made possible firstly by Scotland’s ghastly performance against Bangladesh in the morning. They first allowed Bangladesh to rack up 191 for 5 before foolishly trying to chase the target on the scoreboard rather than set themselves a different target to preserve their net run rate advantage and wound up rapidly collapsing to 35 for 5 in 6.1 overs before eventually being bowled out for 101. With the door now ajar for USA to whittle away even further at the net run rate deficit, the Americans posted their first innings total after choosing to bat first at the toss and then held the Thailand batting lineup in check before they meekly subsided in the waning overs. Even more crucially, Thailand did not offer a late tail-end rally to bite into USA’s net run rate situation and fell by 28 runs. 
 
USA made three changes to their lineup from the loss two days earlier to the Netherlands. At the top of the order, Gargi Bhogle was swapped out for Disha Dhingra while the spin tandem of Taranum Chopra and Saanvi Immadi were both left out in favor of the pace combo of Maahi Madhavan and Lekha Shetty. It posed a philosophical contrast as Thailand went spin heavy, sending down just four overs of pace in the field on what actually proved to be a sharply turning track. Yet USA’s rapidly maturing lineup stood firm and did their best to keep the Thailand spinners at bay. 
 
Dhingra made a nuggety contribution at the top of the order, adding 14 as part of a 27-run opening stand. Crucially she boosted the Powerplay with two boundaries in the third off Phannita Maya as part of a 15-run over that gave USA an early edge. But the right-hander fell in the fifth over on what turned out to be a wicket-maiden for Sunida Chaturongrattana as Dhingra played well away from her body to slice a simple catch to short third on the ring. 
 
Ella Claridge clipped two boundaries in her run-a-ball 9 before she fell lbw, playing back to the spin of Onnicha Kamchomphu to make it 42 for 2 in the eighth. Chetna Pagydyala went four balls later for 18 to Kamchomphu when she mistimed an attempted reverse shot that popped up off her gloves into the air for wicketkeeper Nannapat Koncharoenkai to calmly pouch making it 43 for 3. Isani Vaghela was given yet another opportunity at No. 4 but struggled with the bat once again on tour, scratching her way to 2 off 7 balls before finally charging down the pitch in frustration and fanning on a drive to be stumped for 5 as Kamchomphu claimed her third scalp to make it 50 for 4 at drinks in the 10^th. 
 
Kamchomphu should have had her fourth in the same over when USA captain Aditi Chudasama lofted a drive on 1 straight to long-on. But in what would become a recurring theme for Thailand, a basic chance was shelled – on this occasion by Chaihan – to allow Chudasama to keep going. At the other end, Pooja Ganesh arrived and survived her own close shave off Kamchomphu in the 12^th on 5, slicing a cut very low toward Suleeporn Laomi at backward point who dove forward and got her fingers to the chance but could not maintain her grasp when she hit the turf. 
 
Chudasama let her guard down briefly in the 13^th and wound up running herself out for 8 after a brilliant athletic effort from Thailand captain Naruemol Chaiwai. Charging in from midwicket to deny an attempted tap and run single, Chaiwai collected before swiveling to throw across her body in one motion at the non-striker’s end with a direct hit to make it 62 for 5. 
 
From there, Ganesh let the counter-attack with her second four in what turned into a 10-run over. After collecting a total of 10 runs across a fairly sedate 14^th and 15^th overs, Norris went on the charge against Laomi’s legspin by using her feet to shovel a full toss back over the bowler’s head and into the sightscreen for six and then followed it next ball with a boundary in a 14-run over. 
 
With four overs left and Ritu Singh still waiting to come in, Norris maintained her aggression going for a reverse sweep and missed to be given lbw for 18 to Chaturongrattana making it 98 for 6 with 21 balls left. Singh wasted no time swinging for the ropes, taking a two down the ground on her first ball before skying a chance to long-on off her second delivery, but a straightforward chance was shelled by Chantham. Singh was spilled once more in the subsequent over off Thipatcha Putthawong’s bowling by Maya on what was a moderately tough chance sprinting to her left from long-on, though she did get two hands to the ball without breaking stride before juggling the ball and letting it hit the turf for Singh to move from 5 to 7 in what became a nine-run over in the 18^th. 
 
More salt was rubbed into the wound in the 19^th when Singh finally middled a fuller delivery from Maya and sent the ball sailing 15 yards beyond the long-on rope for six. Maya foxed Singh with a slower ball yorker as Singh was way out in front of a pull shot to be bowled for 15 at 119 for 7 with eight balls left. But she did enough damage to make Thailand pay for dropping her three times. Madhavan entered at No. 9 and tried to punch her first ball over mid-off, but a spectacular one-handed catch was taken by Chanida Sutthiruang on the ring to put Maya on a hat-trick. 
 
Geetika Kodali took a single off the hat-trick ball to end the 19^th before another single to start the 20^th put Ganesh back on strike. She responded with a late cut four followed by a nearly identical shot for a well-run three. But with three balls left, USA’s situational awareness was absent. Rather than trying to tap a single to put Ganesh back on strike, Kodali tried an audacious reverse and was given lbw for 2. No. 11 Shetty entered and was promptly bowled by a fuller delivery to end the USA innings with one ball left unused and Ganesh stranded on 35. But her highly efficient knock – she only had five dots in her 25 deliveries – was invaluable in the final margin. 
 
On the bowling side for Thailand, Kamchomphu led the way with 3 for 16 off her four overs. Chaturongrattana returned 2 for 23 off four overs. Maya claimed 2 for 32 in four overs as Thailand’s only pace bowler on the day. Putthawong ended with 2 for 27 off 3.5 while Laomi was the only bowler not to get a wicket as she conceded 0 for 30 off four. 
 
In USA’s three previous official matches against Thailand, they had lost by nine wickets, 10 wickets and nine wickets. However, USA had never done better than posting 93, and that was in a 50-over contest at the 2021 World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. In T20Is, they had fared no better than 79. But on a day where they finally had a respectable total for their bowlers to work with, the fielding unit rose to the occasion to keep Thailand pinned down. 
 
That began with Norris’ opening over of left-arm pace. After giving up a boundary second-ball to Chantham, Norris nailed the opener high on the back leg but deep enough in the crease for the umpire to uphold an appeal making it 5 for 1 just three balls into the chase. After Kodali built pressure with a maiden to Chaihan, Norris broke through with a full delivery to claim the opener for a seven-ball duck making it 12 for 2 in the third. 
 
Thailand plugged away methodically before Shetty replaced Kodali for the sixth in what turned into one of USA’s few blemishes in the second innings. Coming off her Player of the Match spell against Papua New Guinea, Shetty was wayward to Koncharoenkai by dropping short twice to be pulled and cut for four before a full toss was whacked over the leg side for a third consecutive boundary. After a reassuring chat from Kodali, Shetty calmed down to bowl two dots to end a 13-run over but was not used again for the rest of the day as Thailand ended the Powerplay at 35 for 2. 
 
Chaiwai grinded away at the opposite end and was on 8 off 12 when Madhavan induced a low chance at backward point that Ganesh spilled while tumbling to her left on the edge of the ring. Unlike Thailand’s woeful fielding display, it wound up being USA’s only drop as they held onto every chance in an assured manner the rest of the way. 
 
Chudasama brought herself on for USA’s first over of spin in the eighth and the USA captain made a key breakthrough in the 10^th when the ominous Koncharoenkai missed a sweep and was given lbw for 28 off 24 to make it 48 for 3 at drinks. At that stage, Thailand were going at the same pace USA had been at the halfway mark of their innings but the Americans had one less wicket in hand. However, Thailand’s brittle lineup soon crumbled shortly after play resumed. 
 
Sutthiruang fell tamely for 6 at the end of the 11^th when she miscued a drive against Madhavan and skied a simple catch to Dhingra at extra cover to make it 61 for 4. Laomi tried to heave Kodali over the infield but spliced a catch to Madhavan at extra cover for 1 in the 13^th to make it 72 for 5. 
 
With Chudasama bowled out at the end of the 14^th over and the captain looking for someone to fill the fifth bowler role during her reluctance to toss the ball back to Shetty or give Vaghela a go, Singh was given a chance and it paid off brilliantly in the form of two wickets while conceding just two runs in the 15^th. The stubborn resistance offered by Chaiwai finally ended when she slog swept Singh to Pagydyala, who was perfectly positioned at deep midwicket to take a face high catch for 31 to make it 77 for 6. With the captain gone and no recognized batters to follow, USA were all but assured of victory and that became further reinforced when Maya top-edged a sweep that swirled to Shetty at short fine leg for 1 to end the 15^th at 79 for 7. 
 
Needing to score 50 off five overs with three wickets in hand, Thailand were overwhelming underdogs having no one left capable of clearing the ropes on a consistent basis. Suwanan Khiaoto was bowled for 5 by Madhavan when she slogged across the line to a length ball making it 81 for 8. Singh conceded two boundaries driven over the infield in the 17^th as part of an 11-run over, but that was as threatening as Thailand would be for the rest of the way. Kodali came back for her final over in the 18^th and dismissed Chaturongrattana for 11 thanks to an expert stumping with Claridge keeping up close for the medium pacer and whipped off the bails sharply after the right-hander marginally overbalanced on a failed slog to the leg side to put USA one wicket away from victory. Norris came back for her final over in the 19^th and wiped out Putthawong on the final ball of the over for 3 as a meek drive was pouched by Pagydyala at head height. 
 
Aside from Norris’ match-clinching spell of 3 for 22 in four overs, Madhavan was a key cog in the pace attack to finish with 2 for 19. Kodali also showcased vintage form in returning 2 for 13 off four overs. Chudasama finished with a tidy 1 for 20 off four overs while fellow offie Singh claimed 2 for 13 off two. Shetty ended with 0 for 13 off her solitary over.
 
In the day’s other match, Netherlands came back from their T20 World Cup berth-clinching win over USA with an underwhelming display to lose to Ireland by 98 runs. The Dutch took their foot off the gas pedal which played into Ireland’s hands in a massive way as the Irish bowled out their opponents for a measly 45 in response to a first-innings total of 143 for 9. Orla Prendergast was Player of the Match after a devastating unbroken four-over new-new-ball spell of 3 for 13 claimed the key wickets of Phebe Molkenboer and captain Babette de Leede before capping her spell with Robine Rijke to leave Netherlands floundering at 21 for 5 in the seventh over. The Dutch never recovered after Jane Maguire piggybacked off Prendergast to take 3 for 9 to help wipe out the lower order as the Dutch lasted just 14.5 overs. 
 
Sunday’s slate will see Netherlands play Bangladesh in a match which will only have significance for T20 World Cup seeding purposes as both teams have already qualified for the main event in England. Ireland also play Thailand in the morning and barring an unlikely upset by Thailand, and that too by a sizeable margin, Ireland are expected to win and take the third available qualification spot at the Women’s T20 World Cup in England. That means that the drama of the fourth and final qualification berth will build to a crescendo with the final match of the tournament deciding whether Scotland will return to the tournament for a second consecutive time or if USA can secure their first ever appearance at an ICC Women’s senior World Cup event.