Japan faced little trouble in their East Asia Series: Men’s Twenty20 Championship match against China as they cruised to a convincing nine-wicket win at the Kowloon Cricket Club on Saturday.
Despite a rain shower or two in the morning, the sun greeted China and Japan as they walked out onto the field. China captain Wang Zihao won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on a belter of a wicket.
However, his decision to do so backfired as opening batsman Lin Zhengpei was cleaned bowled by Nozomi Tomizawa for a three-ball duck. Zhengpei’s wicket was the start of a recurring theme for the Chinese team as their batsmen struggled to get accustomed to the pitch and scorching conditions.
To make things worse, there was a lack of communication between the Chinese batsmen on numerous occasions, which led to three of them getting run out. In the end, captain Wang Zihao, who was the last man in, top-scored for China with six not out as his side were skittled out for 56.
Makoto Taniyama, Tsuyoshi Takada and Kohei Wakita picked up two wickets apiece, while Tomizawa chipped in with one.
Chasing 57 to win, Japan got off to a blistering start and were cruising towards the finish line until Muhammad Khan was dismissed by Song Yulin for a quickfire 23. Noatsune Miyaji and skipper Masaomi Kobayashi mopped up the remaining runs to lead Japan to a comfortable nine-wicket win.
Taniyama was named Man of the Match for his superb figures of 2/5 off four overs.
At KCC: Japan beat China by 9 wickets
Japan
Masaomi Kobayashi (Captain), Tomoki Ota (Vice Captain), Kanadage Supun Tharaka Navarathna, Kohei Wakita, Makoto Taniyama, Muhammad Hanif Khan, Naotsune Miyaji, Nozomi Tomizawa, Raheel Kano, Satoshi Nakano, Takuro Hagihara, Tsuyoshi Takada, Yoshitaka Uehara
Coach: Dhugal John Bedingfield
China
Wang Zihao, Han Junhui, Tian Suqing, Song Yulin, Geng Changyue, Lin Zhengpei, Chen Xiaoran, Chen Jinfeng, Lin Zhihong, Zhong Wenyi, Qing Peng, Pu Xianliang, Lu Cangcang, Feng Yu.
Team Manager: Shen Gang, Coach: Feng Jian