India survived a close-call game against Japan in the Only-T20I game, where the visitors secured a 2-run victory in a rain-affected game played at Sano International Cricket Ground.
India claimed their 200th T20I victory, including super over wins, making them the first country to reach the milestone.
The historic game between the sides was under threat of rain from the start of the game. After losing most of the time period, the match was reduced to a five-over game.
Batting first, India lost the wicket of opener Abhishek Sharma for a duck. With a spin attack from Japan, India struggled to score runs as Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan lost their wickets for 9 and 3 runs, respectively.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer, who came to bat at no.4, scored 16 runs before his dismissal. With Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube at the crease, India scored 32 runs in their 5-over innings.
Charlie Hara-Hinze bagged two wickets while Ibrahim and Benjamin bagged one wicket each.
Innings Break!#TEAM INDIA set a target of 33. Over to the bowlers now to defend this!
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— BCCI (@BCCI) September 22, 2026
Chasing a 33-run target, Kendel and Lachlan opened the innings, where the latter got dismissed for 1 run by a run-out.
Washington Sundar bagged the wickets of Ibrahim Takahashi and Kendel Kadowaki for 4 and 12 runs respectively. By the end of 5 overs, Japan scored 30 runs and suffered a narrow defeat in the clash played at Sano International Cricket Stadium, Kanto.
Shreyas Iyer was named as the player of the match. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Iyer said, “Well, certainly turning square. Honestly speaking, it was a very difficult wicket to bat on.”
“We saw the openers as well, who are used to scoring runs consistently, not able to gauge the pace of the spin, and I decided when I got in that it’s important that I need to take singles and doubles and rotate the strike as much as possible. I also interacted with the batsmen who came in with me, but it was difficult to do that as well,” added Iyer.
