The East Kanto Sunrisers lifted the Japan Premier League trophy for the second time on a rain impacted final day at the Sano International Cricket Ground. 

With all teams having played four matches, the Sunrisers finished top of the table courtesy of a 28-run win over the North Kanto Lions on SICG 1, before the Final was washed out. 

The Lions, who needed results to go their way to finish top, had made a dream start by reducing the Sunrisers to 63 for five at the halfway mark. Only Sarfraz Petkar (29 from 19 balls) had made any impact as Reo Sakurano-Thomas (three for eight) and Kazumasa Hiratsuka (two for 13) stifled the top order.

A steadying 19 from Muneeb Mian-Siddique helped the Sunrisers to 111/9, and as the South Kanto Super Kings were also struggling on SICG 2, all possibilities were open going into the second innings. 

The Lions’ hopes seemed to rest largely on the 19-year-old shoulders of Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, but when Malith Neranjan sneaked one through him in the second over the Sunrisers burst back to life. 

The Sunrisers took regular wickets with Neranjan (two for 15) and Kento Ota-Dobell (one for 13) and Ibrahim Takahashi (two for 16) all causing problems to leave the Lions 67 for eight when the rain came. 

The Duckworth-Lewis par score was 95 and the match was called off half an hour later to give the Sunrisers a win by 28 runs and leave them top of the table with the forecast set for more rain in the afternoon – which proved to be the case. 

The South Kanto Super Kings will be left rueing their one-run loss on day one to the Sunrisers in another rain impacted day, which ultimately left them in second place for the tournament. 

In their match against the winless Kansai Chargers only two players made double figures as the Chargers bowlers found a new level after a tough day two. Led by Ryan Drake (two for 11) who found his best rhythm of the weekend, the Chargers reduced the Super Kings to 49 for five before 40 from Anil Kumar helped them up to 100/9 after 20 overs. 

Knowing they had to win to make the final, the Super Kings bowlers caused havoc with the new ball as Gurman Singh delivered a triple-wicket maiden and finished with figures of four for 23 to leave the Chargers five wickets down with only eight runs on the board. 

Piyush Kumbhare (one for 13) and Sabaorish Ravichandran (two for 10) were in the wickets again and the rain came with the Chargers in disarray on 62/7 after 14.5 overs with the par score at 82. That meant a 20-run win for the Super Kings and second place on the table.

There was some consolation of the Super Kings as their players took home a clean sweep of the awards with Alex Shirai-Patmore the Best Batter, Piyush Kumbhare the Best Bowler, and Sabaorish Ravichandran the tournament Most Valuable Player. 

Match Summaries: 

South Kanto Super Kings 100/9 (Kumar 40, Drake 2/11), beat

Kansai Chargers 64/7 (Khatri 23, Singh 4/23) by 20 runs (D/L Method)

East Kanto Sunrisers 111/9 (Petkar 29, Sakurano 3/8), beat

North Kanto Lions 67/8 (S.Hiratsuka 15, Neranjan 2/15) by 28 runs (D/L Method)

Final Standings: 

1. East Kanto Sunrisers
2. South Kanto Super Kings
3. North Kanto Lions
4. West Kanto Hurricanes
5. Kansai Chargers

Individual Awards: 

Best Batter: Alex Shirai-Patmore 108 runs at 36

Best Bowler: Piyush Kumbhare 10 wickets at 7.7

MVP: Sabaorish Ravichandran 43 runs at 21.5 & 8 wickets at 5.88