Japan grit catches Iyer’s eye as India spin woes in T20I thriller
India are the world champions in T20I cricket. Japan is a regular outsider. But when the two teams met for the first time in a historic T20I in San on Tuesday, September 22, sparks flew. A wet pitch robbed the 2,000-strong crowd of 30 overs, but the five-over-a-side match turned into a thriller. India were pushed all the way by a spirited Japanese side but did just enough to seal a two-run victory in the end.
JPN vs IND Scorecard | Highlighting
Organized to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations between India and Japan, the T20I was a beautiful occasion at the Sano International Cricket Ground. Fans turned out in large numbers to watch the full-fledged Indian team in action, just days ahead of the men’s cricket match at the Asian Games hosted by Aichi-Nagoya.
There was no shortage of music to keep the crowd entertained as more than three hours of play were lost. The sun was shining brightly, but the overnight rain had left the terrain wet. However, that didn’t dampen the spirits too much for the two teams who were on the field going through warm-ups and interacting with the crowd. Screenshot from FanCode
Bright sunshine eventually helped the ground staff prepare the pitch for the game and a five-over game was declared.
India won the toss and elected to bat, a decision that surprised some given that Shreyas Iyer chose to field his batsmen despite having little information about the conditions or the opponent in a rain-limited match. More surprisingly, India once again left out Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – a decision that surprised even Japan captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming, as he revealed at the end of the game.
Meanwhile, Japan came out with a lot of energy. They read the conditions well and used spinners for all five overs.
Much to the delight of the neutrals, the Japanese spinners were brave and tried their best to make the most of what Shreyas later described as an order-changing surface.
India lost Abhishek Sharma in the first over for a duck. The left-arm opener, who smashed a 30-ball century against Afghanistan in Delhi just a few days earlier, was atoned for by 17-year-old off-spinner Charlie Hara Hinze.
Ibrahim Takahashi, another out-and-out, then set up the big wicket of Sanju Samson, who made it nine. He beat Samson with flight and turn, leaving the wicket-keeper batsman to hit the ball towards the fielder at mid-wicket.
In the next over, another off-spinner, Benjamin Ito-Davis, got the wicket of Ishan Kishan. Another flighted delivery pinched and swung hard, hitting the leading edge of Ishan’s bat.
At 14 for three after three overs, India were struggling.
Another spin came but Shreyas decided to reduce the risk and play the spinners with respect. The approach worked as he made 16 off 12 balls, helping India to 32 for four at the end of their five overs.
SHREYAS PLAYED JAPAN
“Honestly, it was a very difficult wicket to bat on. We also saw openers who are used to scoring consistently are not able to gauge the pace of the spin and when I got in I decided that it was important that I have to take singles and doubles and spin the stroke as much as possible,” Shreyas said.
“You know, I always say that a five-over game can go anywhere. It doesn’t matter how good a team you are because the opponents are also competitive and the approach and attitude that the Japanese team showed today was impeccable and they deserve credit. The approach was excellent. So I’m sure they’re on the right track now,” he added.
Japan had a unique chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets in their cricketing history, but the Indian spinners stepped up when it mattered most.
With Japan needing eight runs from the final over, Washington Sundar held his nerve and conceded just five, ensuring India survived a massive scare.
Kadowaki-Fleming led the chase from the front, scoring 12 runs after Japan went down to eight to two in two runs. However, he fell to Sundar at the end of the period, leaving Japan’s chase hanging in the balance.
Axar Patel was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he conceded just seven runs from his quota for two.
JAPANESE CAPTAIN EXCITED
Japan fell agonizingly behind, but their captain was proud of the way his team put the world’s best side through. And hearing Shreyas praise the Japanese attitude made the moment even more special.
“Yeah, I’m hugely proud, as I’ve said to a few other guys, when it gets that close it’s actually a bit harder to take and the emotions are quite high in our group. But the fact that we’ve been able to lead what I think is the best team in the world to the last ball of the match is pretty special.”
“And hearing someone like Shreyas talk about the development of Japanese cricket is still quite surreal. So we’re extremely proud of our group and the wider cricket community to have been able to make this game happen.”
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
22 Sep 2026 15:44 IST