World champions India narrowly survived being on the end of a huge upset as they edged a spirited Japan by two runs in a rain-shortened first-ever T20 international between the teams on Tuesday. It was Japan’s first T20 game against a full-member nation. The historic match celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations took place at Japan’s modest Sano International Cricket Ground outside Tokyo.
India, who retained their T20 World Cup crown at home earlier this year, opted to bat first after rain and wet outfield delayed the start and forced a five-overs-a-side shootout.
India, captained by Shreyas Iyer, struggled to score on a sluggish pitch as they made 32-4. They were in the game until the last ball but finished on 30-3, falling agonisingly just short.
“Yeah, extremely proud, as 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,” Japan skipper Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming said.
Japan will play the opening match of men’s T20 cricket at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games against Afghanistan on Thursday at a converted baseball field. “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.
“It doesn’t matter how good a team you are, because the oppositions are also competitive, and the attitude and approach the Japanese team showed today was impeccable, and kudos to them,” India skipper Iyer said.
