Japan narrowly avoided orchestrating one of cricket’s most remarkable upsets as T20 world champions India secured a precarious victory in a standalone match held in Sano on Tuesday.

The precipitation-impacted contest was initially perceived as a ceremonial encounter between the dual World Cup victors and the host nation, positioned 41st in global rankings. Nevertheless, the five-over-per-side format evolved into an enthralling competition as Japan’s determined bowling effort restricted India to merely 32-4.

Facing this modest target, Japan appeared positioned favorably for a straightforward triumph, needing only eight runs from the concluding over. Nonetheless, spinner Axar Patel’s economical bowling—conceding merely five runs—enabled India to secure a two-run victory. Japan concluded their five overs at 30-3.

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For India, captain Shreyas Iyer led the scoring with 16 runs from 12 deliveries as all participants encountered considerable difficulty against favorable bowling conditions. Notably, the entire encounter produced merely four boundaries across 10 overs.

The match was abbreviated to five overs per side following substantial rainfall. India’s batting lineup confronted exceptionally demanding circumstances on a pitch characterized by low bounce and sluggish pace.

Opener Abhishek Sharma departed on the opening delivery while subsequent batters struggled significantly with shot execution. Solely captain Iyer maintained the innings’ stability, accumulating half of the team’s total runs.

For Japan, adolescent spinner Charlie Hara-Hinze demonstrated exceptional bowling prowess, concluding with figures of 2-17 across his two overs.

India deployed their spin bowlers in defense of their modest total. Off-spinner Washington Sundar achieved 2-13 while left-arm spinner Axar conceded merely seven runs from two overs, securing a hard-earned triumph.

India will need to raise their game considerably if they hope to avoid a similar situation next week when they begin the defence of their Asian Games gold medal.

India have been given direct entry into the quarter-finals of the cricket competition at the Asian Games. The last-eight stage begins on Monday, with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also in the quarter-finals.

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