The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Asia Region Qualifier is currently taking place in Thailand and more than the teams itself, the biggest participant is the rain. Nine participating nations have been divided into groups of three each, which means a couple of washed out games and the balances could turn against the favour of the favourites of each group, as only the winner of each group will qualify.
Worried about the rain that could come at any point of time, the UAE Women’s team did something we’ve never seen before in cricket, men’s or women’s; international or domestic. UAE batted first and their opening partnership was carnage against Qatar Women, as captain Esha Oza and Theertha Satish smashed the ball to every corner of the ground.
UAE Women make cricketing history
Considering that the rain could pour down at any time, UAE Women didn’t want to take any chances of having a washed out game, especially since they were high favourites against Qatar. They put up 192/0 in 16 overs, and then decided to do the unthinkable. You obviously cannot declare an innings in limited overs cricket, so they chose another strategy instead.
Oza, batting on 113(55), was retired out at the same time that her partner Satish was retired out after scoring 74(42). And following both the openers retirement, all the remaining eight batters were retired out as well. This became the first time that a team was all-out, with all players dismissed ‘retired out’. Further, it’s the first time a team lost all 10 wickets for 0 runs!
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It was a matter of discussion for multiple reasons. First, was this against the spirit of cricket, even though it was within the rules of the game? Secondly, will this lead to lawmakers making a change in the laws, as it wasn’t intended to be used to gain strategic advantages. A lot of questions were raised but honestly, we think it was a masterpiece.
After retiring all ten players where 8 players were dismissed for a duck respectively, they got a chance to bowl to Qatar and ensure the minimum of 5 overs are bowled in order to have a result in T20 cricket. However, the rain stayed away completely on the day and UAE-W were actually able to bowl out Qatar within 12 overs of the chase.
Wow ! Madness at the Women’s T20 WC qualifiers! All batters deliberately retired out 🤯
UAE smashed 192/0 in 16 overs against Qatar, but with rain threatening, they wanted to head off the field.
Since declaration isn’t allowed in T20Is, each batter padded up, sprinted to the… pic.twitter.com/eAMx0oGhpU
— Ragav 𝕏 (@ragav_x) May 10, 2025
Proper madness going on in UAE v Qatar, Women’s T20 World Cup qualifying
With rain forecast UAE wanted to bail out after racking up 192-0 in 16 overs
Declaration not applicable in T20Is, so each batter padded up, raced to the crease & retired out when they got there 🤯
📷@ICC pic.twitter.com/kV0DWME5fE
— Paul Radley (@PaulRadley) May 10, 2025
They got them out for a paltry score of 29 runs in 11.1 overs, with 7 ducks in the Qatar innings. This means a total of 15 ducks in the game, which hasn’t been seen before in cricketing history either. Amidst all the drama and controversy, UAE Women registered a massive 163-run victory and went to the top of their group, with 2 wins in 2 games.
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