Ahilya Chandel took four wickets in four balls and hit the winning runs as Japan booked a place in the Quarter Finals of the Women’s ACC Premier Cup in Kuala Lumpur by defeating China by four wickets.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, China made a steady start before the recalled Nonoha Yasumoto made the first breakthrough.

As in the previous match, Erika Toguchi-Quinn stifled the China batters, conceding just seven runs from her four overs and picking up a wicket along the way, a spell which paved the way for Kurumi Ota (two for 15) and Ayumi Fujikawa (one for 12) to continue applying pressure.

The star turn came in the final over of the innings, the first wicket fell to a sublime catch from Haruna Iwasaki, before Chandel twice broke the stumps to complete her hat-trick. She then captured the final wicket of the innings LBW to end with figures of four for eight and bowl China all out for just 75 with two deliveries left unused.

For the early part of the chase it seemed like Japan were cruising, Erika Oda hitting five boundaries on her way to 31 from 26 deliveries.

She shared a partnership of 30 with Shimako Kato (17 from 27), but when Oda fell with 22 runs still needed Japan began to stutter in the face of a strong China fightback.

Staying accurate China took four wickets for 11 runs across 21 balls, but a boundary in the 17th over from Toguchi-Quinn took Japan to the verge of victory, which was eventually sealed by Chandel with nine balls to spare.

It is the second time Japan have defeated higher ranked opposition in this tournament, and they will have a rest before taking on group leaders UAE on Tuesday 13th.

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