Japan Defeat Samoa To Keep Title Hopes Alive

The Men’s Japan National Team cruised to a nine-wicket win over Samoa to keep their title hopes alive at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier in Sano.

What looked like a close contest on paper, with both teams aiming to bounce back from a defeat in their previous match, turned into a one sided affair after Samoa won the toss and chose to bat.

The Japanese bowlers were on top from the moment Reo Sakurano-Thomas knocked over Sean Solia, which opened the door for the spinners.

Sabaorish Ravichandran was the destroyer in chief, taking a career best five for 11 from his four overs to roll Samoa over for just 81 in 18.5 overs.

After low-scoring matches in recent days there was some trepidation around the ground, but captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (37*) and Abhishek Anand (22), put on 49 for the first wicket to break the back of the chase.

The captain struck a clean six over the bowlers head to seal the win to end Samoa’s title hopes and set up a potential showdown with Papua New Guinea on Monday, while Cook Islands also retain ambitions of topping the table.