Japan Second Best vs Outstanding UAE

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The Women’s Japan National Team finished second in Group B following defeat at the hands of an excellent UAE side.

Having bowled Oman and China all out for 28 and 34 respectively, and scoring more than 320 runs in the two matches combined, Japan knew it was a tough challenge to overcome.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Japanese batters hung on for as long as they could and took any runs on offer.

Erika Oda top scored with 17 and struck three boundaries, but survival was the main task as the bowlers made things tough.

A final score of 67 for seven from the 20 overs was never likely to be enough, and although Ahilya Chandel returned a maiden in the opening over, the UAE passed the target with ten wickets in hand and 9.3 overs remaining.

Japan will now take on tournament hosts Malaysia in the Quarter Final, who have been equally formidable in the tournament so far.

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Chandel Stars as Japan Defeat China to Reach Quarter-Finals

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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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Singapore Chase 216 for 3rd Place

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The Men’s Japan National team ended fourth in the ACC Challenger Cup in Thailand following a remarkable Singapore run chase.

The day belonged to Singapore captain Aritra Dutta who hammered 122 from just 63 balls, striking 15 boundaries and seven sixes.

Surendran Chandramohan proved a more than able sidekick, hitting 57* from 31 balls to take the team over the line with eight wickets and four balls to spare.

The day had started so well for Japan when captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (78) and Wataru Miyauchi (50) put on 121 for the second wicket, in just 75 balls.

The second half-century of the tournament briefly took Kadowaki-Fleming to the top of the tournament run scorer chart, before Dutta’s blitz, while it was a maiden international half century for the recalled Miyauchi.

Japan plundered 70 runs from the last 33 balls as Sabaorish Ravichandran (41* from 19) and Ibby Takahashi (39* from 19) took the attack to a tired looking Singapore attack.

Ultimately however, Japan were left to rue a missed opportunity to defeat a higher ranked team, with missed chances in the field the main reason for the painful defeat.

Next the team flies across to Hong Kong to participate in the East Asia Cup, which starts on Wednesday 14th February.

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Japan Defeat Oman in Women’s Premier Cup Opener

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The Women’s Japan National Team made the perfect start to their first ever Asia Cricket Council tournament by beating Oman by 14 runs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Batting first, captain Mai Yanagida compiled the highest ever score in a Women’s T20 International for Japan, in her 70th match, making 64* out of a total of 130 for for four.

She was partnered most of the way by Hinase Goto who played a breakout innings, scoring 44 from 45 balls in a partnership of 91 from 76 balls.

After her departure it was left to the captain to continue the effort to set a competitive total, and her four boundaries and a big six over square leg, was enough to put Japan out of reach.

Ahilya Chandel struck in the first over of Oman’s attempted chase, but Nitya Joshi made the game interesting with her 43 from 53 balls.

Through the middle overs it was the bowling efforts of Shimako Kato (two for 25) and Erika Toguchi-Quinn who conceded just 25 runs from their combined eight overs which left the Omani batters with too much to do in the final stage of the game.

Chandel returned to see out the match as Oman finished 116 for five to earn Japan a win over a team ranked seven places above them.

Speaking after the match Japan Head Coach Ardene Ruhode said: “I am so pleased for the team, but especially Hinase and Mai. They both work really hard and always want to improve. As the captain and senior player it really helps Mai to do well early in the tournament, while for Hinase this justifies the faith we have in her a someone who can score runs for Japan.”

The team will play again tomorrow, as they take on China at 14:30, who lost heavily to one of the tournament favourites UAE, in the first round.

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Saudi Overpower Japan in Semi Final

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Saudi Arabia showed their strength in a ten-wicket win over Japan in the Semi Final of the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup in Thailand.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Saudi grabbed momentum with early wickets and Japan struggled to recover.

The Japanese middle order flight hard to post a defendable target, but lost wickets regularly with Declan Suzuki’s 26 from 21 balls the top score.

For Saudi, the highest ranked team in the tournament, keeping Japan to a final score of 97 for eight allowed their batters to play with freedom, which they duly did.

Faisal Khan set about the Japanese bowling on his way to 72* from just 33 balls, with ten boundaries along with four big sixes.

The win means Saudi Arabia will play in the Final on Sunday afternoon against Cambodia, with both teams now qualifying for the Premier Cup in April, while Japan will contest the third-place playoff with Singapore from 11:30.

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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Reenergised Singapore Defeat Japan

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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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All Round Japan Defeat Maldives

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Japan made it two wins in two with a 42-run win over the Maldives at the Men’s ACC Challenger Cup in Thailand.

Winning the toss and batting first, Japan posted 150 for eight in the 20 overs with contributions throughout.

Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake made a typically aggressive 21 but the Maldives had Japan in a wobble at 63 for four in the ninth over.

A partnership of 52 from 42 balls between Sabaorish Ravichandran and Declan Suzuki, who both made 26, played a key role in pushing the final score up to 150.

Japan had two debutants at Kazuma Kato-Stafford and Charlie Hinze, and the former struck a couple of handy boundaries at the end before the latter took the new ball.

Reo Sakurano had already knocked over one of the Maldives opening batters before Hinze got his hands on the ball, but the 15-year-old showed good composure despite not picking up a wicket.

Instead it was the Japanese leg spinners who did the damage, Ravichandran giving a master class in control to collect two for 12 from his four overs and the recalled Makoto Taniyama went one better with three for 12.

Speaking after the game captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming said: “We were better today with lots of people contributing, and we know we can get better still. We’ve seen all 14 players in the squad across these first two games and feel we’re in a good place as a team.”

On the two debutants he added: “It was great to see another two players graduate from our strong under 19s program into the Men’s team and make an immediate impact on debut.”

Ravichandran was named MVP after the match and Japan knows that a win against Singapore on Monday morning will secure the top spot in the group.

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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  • Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd.

Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. specialized in providing services and products related to ICT (information and communication technology). Partnering with various global ICT vendors and supporting more than 1,500 companies, MKI offers best-in-class solutions to customers.

Website: https://www.mki.co.jp/english/

Sakurano Stars as Japan Beat Thailand

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The men’s Japan national team won their opening match in the ACC Challenger Cup, defeating hosts Thailand by 45 runs.

The win was set up by a bombastic 74 from 48 balls by captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming, who was ably supported by Alex Shirai-Patmore (31) in a partnership of 90 from 67 balls.

A total of 166/6 from 20 overs appeared a par score on a high-scoring ground and Japan knew they would need to fight in the second innings.

Thailand came hard in the opening overs, scoring 45 from the first three as Chaloemwong Chatpaisan hammered six boundaries and a six in his 31 from 12 balls.

The match swung back in Japan’s favour when Reo Sakurano took three wickets in the fifth over.

Sakurano would ultimately finish with Japan’s best-ever bowling figures in T20 Internationals, taking six for 26 and passing his own previous best on debut in 2022.

Ibby Takahashi chipped in as well, bowling tight lines and taking three for 10 as Japan bowled Thailand all out for 120 in the 17th over.

Speaking after the game Kadowaki-Fleming said: “It’s great to start with a win and the team stayed calm when the Thai batters started so well. There’s things to work on but it was enjoyable to be out there as a team again and hope the fans back home were entertained.”

Player of the Match Sakurano said: “I’ve probably bowled better, but of course it’s great to help the team get a win. Now it’s on to the next one.”

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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  • Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd.

Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. specialized in providing services and products related to ICT (information and communication technology). Partnering with various global ICT vendors and supporting more than 1,500 companies, MKI offers best-in-class solutions to customers.

Website: https://www.mki.co.jp/english/

MIZUNO Partners with Japan Cricket as National Team Supplier

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The Japan Cricket Association (JCA) is delighted to welcome Mizuno Corporation (MIZUNO) as a new partner. As “National Team Supplier”, MIZUNO will supply the Men’s, Women’s and Men’s U19 Teams with high quality playing and training clothing.

The JCA will share its Cricket expertise and resources with MIZUNO, supporting them to further develop as a global sport brand. The partnership was signed for three years starting January 2024 until December 2026.

The new MIZUNO clothing will be worn by the Men’s Japan National Team for the first time on the 2nd of February for their first match in the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup in Thailand, while the Women will wear the new clothing on the 10th of February for their first match in the ACC Women’s Premier Cup in Malaysia.

Naoki Alex Miyaji, CEO of the JCA said:
“We are proud to be able to form a partnership with MIZUNO, a global sport brand from Japan. Cricket clothing and equipment are mostly imported from overseas, so it has been difficult to source clothing made for Cricket and made to fit our players at the same time. MIZUNO has worked closely with us and our players for almost a year to develop Cricket clothing that fits our players.

I would like to thank everyone involved in developing the clothing and hope to see our National Teams shine on the world stage in their new MIZUNO attire. We also look forward to contributing to the MIZUNO brand’s further growth around the world.”

Mr. Hirokazu Fujie, Executive Director, Mizuno Corporation said:
“We are delighted to form this partnership with the JCA. In developing the clothing, we asked the players for feedback and strived to achieve high functionality for Cricket. We look forward to utilising our expertise in developing sporting goods that will support the Japan National Cricket Teams to perform on the world stage and will support Cricket to grow in Japan.”

Comment by Men’s National Team Player, Reo Sakurano – Thomas:
“I’m excited to see the new MIZUNO clothing completed ahead of the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup. The clothing is quick-drying and doesn’t stick to your skin, so it will be comfortable even in hot weather. We will take part in the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup in Thailand starting with a match on the 2nd of February, before travelling to Hong Kong for the Men’s East Asia Cup from the 14th so please follow and support the team.”

Comment by Women’s National Team Player, Elena Kusada-Nairn:
“The clothing gives us great mobility as it is very light and stretchy. It also feels great and comfortable. I’m looking forward to wearing it at the ACC Women’s Premier Cup which starts in Malaysia on the 10th of February. Thank you very much to MIZUNO for developing and supplying us with such high quality clothing.”

■More information on the ACC Men’s Challenger Cup and the Men’s East Asia Cup: https://cricket.or.jp/archives/25807

■More information on the ACC Women’s Premier Cup: https://cricket.or.jp/archives/25838

[About Mizuno Corporation]
Since its establishment in 1906, the Mizuno Group has been driven by a corporate philosophy: “Contributing to society through the advancement of sporting goods and the promotion of sports.” Mizuno has been developing and marketing products for a wide range of sports, including running, football, baseball and golf.
Website: https://corp.mizuno.com/en

 

Women’s Japan National Team to Play ACC Premier Cup

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In what represents a busy start to the year for Japan Cricket, the Women’s National Team will travel to Malaysia for the ACC Premier Cup in February.

This will be the first time the women’s team have ever featured in an Asia Cricket Council tournament and like the Under 19 events last year this will be a 16-team event. 

There will be four groups of four teams each and the top two teams from each group will go forward to the Quarter-Finals. Only the two finalists will qualify for the Asia Cup itself, while the four semi-finalists will all qualify for the Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. 

The team will again be captained by Mai Yanagida and includes all three players who recently participated in the Global Cricket Tournament in South Africa. 

The travelling team is as follows:

  • Mai Yanagida (Wyverns Cricket Club)
  • Ahilya Chandel (Gordon Cricket Club)
  • Ayumi Fujikawa (Doshisha Cricket Club)
  • Hinase Goto (Doshisha Cricket Club)
  • Haruna Iwasaki (Sendai University Cricket Club)
  • Shimako Kato (Gunnersbury CC & Fuji Far East Cricket Club)
  • Elena Kusuda-Nairn (Sendai University Cricket Club)
  • Akari Nishimura (Sendai University Cricket Club)
  • Erika Oda (Kawasaki Knight Riders Cricket Club)
  • Meg Ogawa (Wyverns Cricket Club)
  • Kurumi Ota (Kawasaki Knight Riders)
  • Seika Sumi (Sendai University Cricket Club)
  • Erika Toguchi-Quinn (Melbourne Cricket Club)
  • Nonoha Yasumoto (Uenomiya Junior and Senior High School Cricket Club)

The fixtures are scheduled as follows: 

  • Oman vs Japan: Saturday 10th February – 14:30
  • China vs Japan: Sunday 11th February – 14:30
  • UAE vs Japan: Tuesday 13th February – 14:30

Knockout matches are scheduled as follows: 

  • Quarter-Finals: Wednesday 14th February
  • Semi-Finals: Friday 16th February
  • Final: Sunday 18th February

Morning matches commence at 09:30 local time / 10:30 Japan Standard Time, afternoon matches commence at 13:30 local time / 14:30 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.

Please join us in wishing the team the best of luck as they make their first steps in an Asian Cricket Council Event.

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  • Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd.

Mitsui Knowledge Industry Co., Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. specialized in providing services and products related to ICT (information and communication technology). Partnering with various global ICT vendors and supporting more than 1,500 companies, MKI offers best-in-class solutions to customers.

Website: https://www.mki.co.jp/english/