The Women’s Japan National Team put in a complete performance to continue their perfect start to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup East Asia Pacific Qualifier 2023, beating Fiji by eight wickets in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Japan lost the toss and for the first time in the competition were bowling first. Nonoha Yasumoto has performed with admirable consistency in the competition so far and today got big rewards with career best figures of four for 11 from her four overs. Three of those wickets were clean bowled, including her first in just the second over of the match.

Japan were made to wait for their second breakthrough as Ruci Muriyalo dug in to make 36 from 55 balls and keep her team afloat. Her partnership of 30 for the second wicket with Ilisapeci Waqavakatoga (19) was the highlight of the contest for the Fijians, but Erika Toguchi-Quinn broke through to open the door for Japan.

Toguchi-Quinn has quickly established herself as an integral part of the Japan attack and put in a best performance to date, mesmerising the batters on her way to figures of two wickets for seven runs across four overs. It was that pressure that led to wickets falling at the other end, Yasumoto returning to the attack to wreak havoc at the end of the innings, taking three wickets in five balls to end any hopes of a challenging score being set.

FIji’s eventual total of 75 for seven from their 20 overs did not look like a winning score, especially with form player Erika Oda around. Japan’s batting superstar made light work of the total, scoring a run-a-ball 31 not out with partnerships of 29 with Haruna Iwasaki (14), and 36* with Ahilya Chandel 14*) as Japan passed the score with 6.3 overs still remaining.

Oda now has 125 runs for the tournament, while Yasumoto is comfortably the most economical, going at just 2.91 runs per over in the three matches so far.

Japan are top of the table at the halfway mark and will face their toughest test to date as they clash with pre-tournament favourites Papua New Guinea, who have recorded two big victories since their surprise defeat on the opening day. The match will begin at 07:30 Japan time and can be watched live on ICC.tv

Match Schedule (Japan Time):

• Friday 1 September – Cook Islands vs Japan, 07:30
• Saturday 2 September – Japan vs Samoa, 11:30
• Monday 4 September – Fiji vs Japan, 11:30
• Tuesday 5 September – Papua New Guinea vs Japan, 07:30
• Thursday 7 September – Indonesia vs Japan, 07:30
• Friday 8 September – Vanuatu vs Japan, 11:30

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• X：https://twitter.com/CricketJapan
• Facebook：https://www.facebook.com/cricketjapan
• Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/japan_cricket

Women’s National Team Partner

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