The India National Cricket Team was up against the Japan National Cricket Team in a one-off T20I match before the Asian Games 2026: Harmanpreet Kaur & Co. end India's Gold medal wait with terrific win”>Asian Games 2026. In a rain-shortened five-over contest, the Men in Blue survived an upset. During the match, a controversial umpiring decision was overturned by the umpires in the final over of Japan’s innings.
Shreyas Iyer’s side survived a scary loss against Japan after winning the game by 2 runs in a rain-curtailed match. The game between India and Japan was played to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and to serve as a crucial warm-up fixture ahead of the 2026 Asian Games, as India plays its first game on 28th September.
During the final over of Japan’s innings, the side needed 6 off 4 deliveries, and Axar Patel was bowling the final over, as Alexander Shirai-Patmore was batting and tried to play a switch hit, and the ball missed it; however, the stand-in umpire Chris Thurgate gave a wide, and Axar was furious with the decision as he explained that it was a switch hit.
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Later on, Shreyas Iyer had a talk with the leg-umpire, Brown, and asked him to intervene over the controversial decision. There was a chat between the two umpires with Iyer; wicket-keeper Sanju Samson and Axar were present, and the decision was overturned, with India winning the game by a bare margin of two runs.
Shreyas Iyer led the team from the front
Coming to the match, Shreyas Iyer yet again won the toss and opted to bat first. India had the worst possible start as they lost their most in-form batter, Abhishek Sharma, for a golden duck. Soon, Sanju Samson also followed for 9 runs; they were struggling as Ishan Kishan also failed to trouble the bowlers and was dismissed for 3 runs.
Later on, Shreyas Iyer took charge and scored a valuable 16 runs, and Tilak scored one run. The Men in Blue scored a decent total of 32/4 in the 5-over game. Charlie Hara-Hinze was the pick of the bowlers, picking up two wickets.
Japan fail to upset the world champions
While chasing, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake was the first batter to be dismissed as he was run out by Kishan in the first over. Ibrahim Takahashi also failed to score in double figures as he was dismissed for 4.
Skipper Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming scored a run a ball 12 runs, and Benjamin Ito-Davis scored 9* runs as they could only get to 30 runs.
Meanwhile, India became the first team to register 200 wins in T20Is, including victories achievedhannesburg in 2006, while the 50th, 100th and 150th victories came against Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia respectively
The Japan game also matched India’s second-smallest winning margin by runs in T20Is, behind their one-run wins against South Africa in 2012 and Bangladesh in 2016. India had previously won by two runs against Sri Lanka in 2023.
Source: cricketaddictor.com
