Japan beat hosts South Korea by 32 runs in the 3rd Place Playoff. China, Hong Kong, and Japan all finished with 2 wins and 1 loss after the round robin stage, but China and Hong Kong were awarded places in the Final on Net Run Rate. In the Final, China beat Hong Kong by 14 runs to claim their second title since 2015.

In the 3rd Place Playoff, South Korea won the toss and elected to field. Japan seemed to get off to a flying start with opener Erika Oda scoring 27 runs off 25 balls. However, South Korean opening bowler Beak Mina came back strong in the 4th and 6th over of the match, taking 2 wickets in each over, forcing Japan back onto the back foot at 35 runs for 4 wickets after 6 overs. Saving Japan from trouble for the second time in as many days, Nao Tokizawa and Shizuka Miyaji again worked hard during the middle overs putting on 27 runs without losing a wicket, taking the total to 62 runs in the 13th over.

Tokizawa was run out in the 13th over but Miho Kanno joined Miyaji for a match winning 57 run partnership off 41 balls to boost the score to 119 runs. Miyaji scored 47 runs off 44 balls while Kanno scored 21 runs off 17 balls. Miyaji was bowled in the final over making way for Rio Endo to come in and blast 7 runs off just 3 balls to take Japan’s total to 129 runs for 6 wickets, the highest T20I score for the Japan Women’s Team.

South Korea started its chase strongly with openers Kim Sinae contributing 23 runs and Captain Song Seungmin contributing 19 runs to take the score to 52 runs for 1 wicket after 12 overs. However, Kasumi Nanno of Uenomiya High School, came on to bowl in the 13th over and took 3 quick wickets to keep the game in Japan’s favour. Then opening bowler Nao Tokizawa returned with the ball and took 3 more wickets to ensure Japan finished 3rd in the tournament. Tokizawa finished with 3 wickets for just 6 runs in her 4 overs. South Korea eventually finished their 20 overs on 97 with the loss of 8 wickets.

The MVP of the match was awarded to Shizuka Miyaji whose 47 runs also made her the highest run scorer of the tournament at 95 runs. Miyaji was named the Best Batter of the Tournament while Hong Kong’s Ka Man Chan was named the Best Bowler of the Tournament for taking 8 wickets in the tournament.

[Update: the schedule for the final day (22nd of September) has changed – Final to start at 09:30, 3rd Place Playoff to start at 14:00]

Japan lost to China in its third and last match of the round robin of the East Asia Cup. As a result, Japan, China, and Hong Kong all finish with 2 wins and 1 loss, but Japan will miss out on playing in the final due to Net Run Rate.

Japan won the toss for the first time in the tournament and elected to bat. Faced with a strong opening bowling attack of Wang Meng (3 wickets for 8 runs) and Wu Juan (3 wickets for 6 runs), Japan lost 3 early wickets to the pair as well as 2 run outs. After being 14 for 5 wickets in 8.1 overs, Shizuka Miyaji (20 runs not out) and Nao Tokizawa (28 runs) put on a 47 run partnership but once Tokizawa was out with the score on 61 after 17.3 overs, the tail only added 6 runs to be all out for 67 runs in 19.2 overs.

67 was always going to be a tough target to defend and the Chinese opening pair got their side well on their way with a partnership of 34 runs. Once the 15 year old Japanese bowler Ruan Kanai (1 wicket for 11 runds) got the breakthrough, Yanagida (2 wickets for 14 runs), Miyaji (1 wicket for 15 runs) and Kanno (1 wicket for 12) followed. Japan took regular wickets keeping themselves in the game, but China eventually reached the target in the 14th over with 5 wickets in hand.

China’s Wu Juan was awarded the MVP of the match for her outstanding bowling figures of 3 wickets for just 6 runs off her 4 overs.

Japan will now play in the 3rd Place Playoff tomorrow at 14:00 and can be followed live on https://cricclubs.com/KoreaCA with updates being posted every five overs on the JCA Twitter page.

The Japan Women’s team avenged their defeat in the East Asia Cup Final two years ago with an extraordinary won over Hong Kong in Incheon.

Bowing first Japan made an incredible start with the ball, taking three wickets in the first two overs and further breakthroughs reduced Hong Kong to 28/6 after 7.1 overs.

Opening bowlers Nao Tokizawa (1/19) and Miho Kanno (2/14) set the tone before a 30-run partnership between Ruchitha Venkatesh (25) and Yousaf Mehreen (10) helped bring Hong Kong back into the contest.

Despite some wayward bowling at the end, Japan continued to take wickets and eventually dismissed Hong Kong for 91 in 19.4 overs.

Japan started the second innings as they had the first with Erika Oda smashing the ball to the boundary as Japan raced to 33/1 after just three overs.

When Oda fell for 21 she was the second of three wickets to go in the space of eight balls and Japan were suddenly 33/4.

Captain Mai Yanagida (18*) dug in, but a second collapse left her running out of partners and at 51/7 after 8.3 overs it looked as if Japan had blown a terrific opportunity.

Enter Nao Tokizawa. The Keio University student showed calm and maturity beyond her years to combine with her captain in a match winning partnership of 39 in 9.5 overs, eventually being run out for the innings top score of 22, with just two needed to win. Nao Tokizawa was awarded the MVP Award for the match for her contributions with bat, ball and in the field.

Japan were able to complete the win by two wickets which means they have won two from two after yesterday’s win against hosts Korea.

There is still another group match to go against China, which will take place Saturday afternoon at 14:00. Live scores can be followed on www.cricclubs.com/koreaca while updates will continue on our Twitter feed.

Congratulations Japan and keep going!

Japan Women won their opening match of the 2019 East Asia Cup with a nervous win over hosts Korea. 

Korea won the toss and chose to bowl first but Japan made steady progress to be 24/1 after the powerplay. Wickets then tumbled in the next six overs and Japan were 39/4 after 12 and in trouble of ending short of a competitive target. 

A partnership of 47 from 42 balls between Ayaka Kanada (29*) and Shizuka Miyaji (16) built a recovery of sorts and Japan finished 97/7 at the end of the 20 overs; Korea captain Song Seungmin was the pick of the bowlers with 2/14. 

The Japanese bowlers kept things tight at the start, with Korea 20/2 after their powerplay, but the match looked to be going the way of the hosts as Seungmin (14) and Baek Mina (28*) took the hosts to 59/2 after 12 overs and well set to finish things off. 

The left-arm spin of Miyaji (1/9) made the breakthrough in the 13th over and the scoring rate began to slow drastically as Japan captain Mai Yanagida brought herself into the attack. 

As the required run rate climbed the pressure began to tell on the Korea batters, with opener Mina facing just four of the final 18 deliveries. Three wickets in the final over, two for Yangida (2/11) and one run out, earned Japan the win by 13 runs as Korea finished 85/7. 

Shizuka Miyaji was awarded the MVP for her part in the biggest partnership of the match and the most economical figures on either side. 

Tomorrow Japan will take on defending champions Hong Kong, the match again starting at 9:30am and can be followed live on https://cricclubs.com/KoreaCA with updates being posted every five overs on the JCA Twitter page.

Dean Russ

The Japan Women’s team departed today for the 2019 East Asia Cup, taking place in South Korea.

The team, captained by Mai Yanagida and coached by Dean Russ, will be aiming to improve on their runners up spot which they achieved in the previous tournament two years ago.

Russ, who works at Cricket Victoria, spent time with the players in Japan prior to departure and said: “it has been a real pleasure working with the players. They have been very open to different ideas and I am excited to see how they perform in the tournament.”

The matches start on Thursday when Japan play the hosts, before playing Hong Kong on Friday and China on Saturday. Final play offs will take place on Sunday 22^nd September.

Match updates will be available on Twitter, Facebook and reports will appear on the JCA website.

We hope you join us in wishing the girls good luck in trying to win the East Asia Cup for the first time since its inception in 2015!