At the end of the 16th over of the innings, both openers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) walked off the field retired out. Subsequently, the rest of the team followed suit. This marked the first-ever occurrence in a recognized T20 match where 10 players from the same team were retired out.
This unusual scene took place during the Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers on Saturday, May 10. Due to the threat of rain, UAE scored 192 runs in 16 overs against Qatar. Following this, all 10 UAE batters were retired out! This is the first time such an event has occurred in a recognized T20, whether in men’s or women’s cricket.
In Bangkok, UAE won the toss and chose to bat first. Isha Ojha played a destructive inning, scoring a century off 51 balls, including 5 sixes and 14 fours, amassing 113 runs from 55 balls. Her opening partner, Thiritha Sathish, contributed 74 runs off 42 balls, with 11 fours.
There was a concern of rain during the match, so UAE decided to end their innings after 16 overs. However, international T20 rules do not allow an innings to be declared. Therefore, each UAE batter had to get ready to bat but left the field without facing a ball, retiring out.
UAE went on to bowl Qatar out for just 29 runs, securing a massive 163-run victory. In UAE’s innings, 8 batters were retired out for a duck, and in Qatar’s innings, 7 batters were dismissed without scoring. This made it the highest number of players returning to the pavilion without scoring in a women’s T20 match in a single game.
With the win over Qatar, UAE topped Group B in the qualifiers. The top three teams from the three groups will advance to the “Super Three” round, from where the top two teams will secure a spot in next year’s World Cup.
UA / TDS
