The Men’s Japan National Team came off second best in an extraordinary battle with higher ranked Bahrain in the Final of the Thai Open Series in Bangkok.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Bahrain made a dream start as seamer Ali Dawood struck twice in the first over of the match.

This was followed up by another two wickets in the fifth over as Dawood was replaced by left-arm spinner Abdul Majid, and things were even better for the favourites when they struck again in the eighth over to leave Japan 24 for five.

There was a rebuild of sorts for Japan from Alex Shirai-Patmore (21 off 28 balls) and Sabaorish Ravichandran (20 off 27), but when Dawood returned to double his wicket tally (four for 19), the game looked as good as done.

A late rally from Ibby Takahashi (19* off 14) and Declan Suzuki (22 off 13) lifted the team to 108 for nine, a record ninth-wicket partnership for Japan of 38 from 21 balls, ended on the last ball of the innings to gave Japan a glimmer of hope.

That glimmer became a shining light as Abdul Samad mirrored Dawood with a double strike in the first over of the Bahrain batting innings and it was the favourites who were reeling at 36 for five in the tenth over with Ibby Takahashi taking three for 10.

Sabaorish Ravichandran then turned the screw further with figures of three for 11 as Japan had Bahrain 57 for eight in the 16th over.

Dawood was not done however, now with the bat he struck back-to-back sixes in the 17th over to  spark fresh life into Bahrain, alongside Yaseer Naseer.

Dawood was eventually removed for 19 off 12 balls from the final ball of the 19th over, leaving Naseer needing 15 off the last. After dots from the first two deliveries, he muscled the third for six and faced another dot on the fourth. Back to back boundaries from the final two balls meant the scores were tied as both sides compiled 108 for nine in their 20 overs on a difficult pitch.

Nasser returned for the super over and slotted the second ball over the ropes, before Ahmer Bin Nasir hit successive boundaries from the fourth and fifth deliveries. A run out off the final ball left Japan needing 15 to lift the trophy.

Ibby Takahashi strolled out to take strike and managed to get his first ball away to the boundary, but that was as good as things got for Japan as Ali Dawood, so influential throughout the game, kept things tight enough to deny Japan, who fought hard to keep the game alive right to the last ball, but Bahrain kept their nerve to win by five runs.

The JCA would like to congratulate the team on their efforts, as well as the staff for their work behind the scenes. We would also like to thank the Cricket Association of Thailand for arranging the tournament during a busy period for them.

Finally a big thank you to everyone who supported the team along the way. They will be back in action in the spring with an announcement due shortly.

The full match schedule is as follows: 

Tournament Matches:

• 25th February (Wednesday) 11:00 Thailand vs Japan (Japan won by 37 runs)
• 26th February (Thursday) 15:30 Bahrain vs Japan (Japan won by 8 wickets)
• 27th February (Friday) 11:00 Bhutan vs Japan (Japan won by 77 runs)
• 28th February (Saturday) 15:00 Japan vs Bahrain (Bahrain win on Super Over)

*Thailand is 2 hours behind Japan

**Following the first three rounds of matches there will be a third-place play off at 11:00 and a final at 15:30. 

All matches were live streamed on the Cricket Thailand Facebook page where replays can also be found.

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