A resurgent Singapore responded to their shock defeat by hosts Thailand to defeat Japan by 34 runs in the ACC Challenger Cup.

Japan started the game brilliantly with the recalled Piyush Kumbhare taking two wickets in the second over of the match, but the two danger men remained.

Aritra Dutta (39 from 34) and Anish Paraam (92* from 58) combined in a partnership of 76 from 63 balls before the former became Charlie Hinze’s maiden international wicket.

At 93 for four with six overs to go, Japan were still in a strong position, but Paraam was merciless with the bat, not giving a chance and hitting boundaries at will.

Partnered for the last three overs with Raoul Sharma (21* off six), 57 runs were plundered as Singapore finished 176 for five.

Japan started well in the chase with Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake taking 11 off the first over on his way to 35 from 27, but the match turned on a good piece of work in the outfield to run out captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming for 25 in the 11th over.

Japan knew that a score of 146 would be enough to keep them ahead of Singapore on net run rate, and when three wickets fell in 11 balls by the 16th over, that became the new target.

Ultimately Singapore did just enough to restrict Japan to 142 for eight to go top of the table and leave Japan to wait nervously for the result of the Thailand vs Maldives match.

On a day where Japan could have lost and still topped the group, or exited the competition altogether, the team had ultimately done enough by winning the first two games to earn a semi-final berth against tournament favourites Saudi Arabia.

The fixtures are scheduled as follows: 

• Thailand vs Japan: Friday 2nd February – 15:50
• Maldives vs Japan: Sunday 4th February – 15:50
• Singapore vs Japan: Tuesday 6th February – 11:30

Knockout matches are scheduled as follows: 

• 5th Place Playoff, 7th Place Playoff: Wednesday 7th February
• Semi-Finals: Friday 9th February
• 3rd Place Playoff, Final: Sunday 11th February

Morning matches commence at 09:30 local time / 11:30 Japan Standard Time, afternoon matches commence at 13:30 local time / 15:50 Japan Standard Time.

All matches will be available to watch live on the Asian Cricket Council YouTube Channel and live scores can be followed on the ACC Match Centre.

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