It was supposed to be a formality. Instead, it came down to the final ball of a rain-curtailed five-over thriller at the Sano International Cricket Ground, with India clinging on by two runs to beat Japan and record their 200th victory in T20I cricket. The win, which includes Super Over results, makes India the first nation in history to reach that milestone. The manner of it, though, will have given Shreyas Iyer’s side more than a few uncomfortable moments.
Rain had threatened the fixture from the outset and eventually reduced the contest to five overs per side. The conditions suited neither team, with moisture in the pitch making run-scoring difficult from the very first ball. Japan’s spin attack, largely unfamiliar names on the international stage, read the surface better than India’s celebrated batting lineup and made full use of it.
How India vs Japan Turned Into a Nail-Biter
India’s top order collapsed in a heap. Abhishek Sharma was caught off Charles Hinze for a golden duck off the last ball of the opening over. Two balls later, Ibrahim Takahashi had Sanju Samson caught for 9. Benjamin Ito then removed Ishan Kishan for 3, and India were suddenly staring down the barrel at 14 for 3 in the third over against opposition ranked far below them in the global pecking order.
Shreyas Iyer held the innings together with 16 off 12 balls, the only batter to offer meaningful resistance, before Hinze accounted for him in the final over. India limped to 32 for 4, a total that felt precarious from the moment the last ball was bowled. Hinze finished with 2 for 17, Takahashi took 1 for 13 and Ito claimed 1 for 2 in a disciplined bowling effort that had no right to look as threatening as it did.
Japan’s chase began disastrously when Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake was run out by Ishan Kishan in the opening over, but Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming and Takahashi steadied the pursuit and brought the equation down to eight needed off eight balls. At that point Japan fancied themselves, and they were right to.
Washington Sundar proved the difference. He removed Takahashi for 4 and then had Kadowaki-Fleming caught for a run-a-ball 12, finishing with figures of 2 for 13 across his two overs. Even so, Japan needed six off the final three legitimate deliveries when Axar Patel stepped up to bowl the last over.
Axar sent down two wides, the second of which was overturned on review, a moment that proved pivotal in the context of what followed. Japan needed six from three balls and could only manage singles off each. Axar held his nerve, Japan fell two runs short, and India had their 200th win, albeit through the narrowest of margins.
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