It was a historic occasion: Japan playing India. For the reigning T20 World Cup winners, it could well have turned into a shocker after Japan gave the Shreyas Iyer -led side a major scare. A huge drama unfolded on the third ball. Off Axar Patel ‘s bowling, Alexander Shirai-Patmore attempted a reverse sweep. The ball was going down the leg side and was initially given a wide.
In the rain-truncated match, reduced to a five-over-a-side contest, India could score only 32/4 in five overs. Japan gave them a scare and reached 27/3 in 4.2 overs.
Japan captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming said his side could take immense pride from pushing two-time world champions India to the final ball despite suffering a narrow two-run defeat in their historic T20I clash at the Sano International Cricket Ground.
“I think I’ve been saying to a few other guys that when it gets that close, it’s actually a little bit tougher to take, and the emotions are running pretty high in our group. “To hear someone like Shreyas talking about the progression of Japan cricket is still quite surreal. So, I am extremely proud of our group and the broader cricket community that we were able to make this game happen. Kadowaki-Fleming also acknowledged the contribution of everyone involved in staging the match, including title sponsor Suzuki, the BCCI, and the Japan Cricket Association (JCA). “And without Suzuki, the title sponsor, without the BCCI, to whom we’re very grateful, and the JCA, this game wouldn’t have been possible. And even beyond that, there were people working on this ground through the whole night.
But the fact that we were able to run the best team in the world, in my opinion, to the last ball of a game is pretty special,” Kadowaki-Fleming said. Volunteers, our women’s team, who are here as well to support us, worked through the night to make this game happen,” he said. “As I said, I am extremely proud for us to take it to the last ball of the game.”
