"We are putting up 100 percent to be the champion this time. My teammates are training hard," said Nepali skipper Chhetri. "We put up good performances in the group stage and we have a high morale now," she said.[break]
Nepal had won all four group-stage matches of the tournament to top the pool A points table. On the other hand, Thailand has won the first four group-stage matches but lost to China on Monday and has finished group stage as the runner up of pool B.
Nepal and Thailand have clashed four times in the past and are at equilibrium. Nepal had defeated Thailand by 55 runs in their first encounter in the group stage of the ACC Women´s Tournament in 2007 but lost the second encounter by 23 runs in the ACC Women´s T20 Championship in 2009.
Likewise, Nepal had edged past Thailand by 21 runs in the group stage match of the ACC Women´s T20 Championship in 2011 but lost the third place play-off match between them by 13 runs in the same tournament.
Meanwhile, Nepal had thrashed Thailand in all three encounters at the U-19 level. Nepal had defeated Thailand by 83 runs in ACC U-19 Women´s Championship in 2008, by six wickets in the 2010 edition and by four wickets in the 2012 edition.
National squad captain Chhetri was the skipper of the Nepali U-19 team that defeated Thailand in 2012 and current national squad member Nary Thapa was the Nepali U-19 skipper in 2008.
In this scenario, Wednesday´s match would not only be a fight for securing berth in the final but also the renewal of rivalry of Thapa and Chhetri with Thai players like Pundarika Prathanmitr and Sirintra Saengsakaorat.
Nepal is considered a balanced team with experienced players and young talents. Nepali team has two former captains, Thapa and Neera Rajopadhyay, in the team. Nepali team is also considered as an all-round team while Thailand is taken as a team with sharp bowling and fielding skills but with relatively weak batting.
Nepali team has been putting up improved batting show in the tournament in comparison to the ACC Women´s T20 Asia Cup held in China in 2012, when Nepali batting had collapsed horribly. Nepali team had focused on batting during the training sessions before the ongoing tournament to avoid such collapses.
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