India’s first-ever international cricket match on Japanese soil was reduced to the minimum five overs required to constitute a valid match as the ground was still sodden from heavy rainfall on the two days leading up to September 22.
The sun was out on match day, but drying a ground unaccustomed to the demands of top-flight cricket took time, and time was the one thing in short supply. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat.
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Jasprit Bumrah, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Vipraj Nigam were all left out of India’s 14-member squad for the game. The decision to rest Bumrah in particular will draw attention given the ongoing questions about his workload management, while Sooryavanshi’s absence from the first competitive action of the Asian Games warm-up phase is equally noteworthy.
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India vs. Japan cricket: Score, result and highlights
After five overs, India are 32/4
Japan delivered an absolute stunner in the opening five overs, executing an inspired spin masterclass to leave powerhouse India reeling at a shocking 32/4.
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Opening with relentless turn on a sluggish surface, Japan’s skipper backed his slow bowlers completely, and they repaid that faith with ruthless precision against India’s marquee names.
The onslaught started immediately with Abhishek Sharma perishing for a golden duck, followed quickly by the cheap dismissals of Sanju Samson (9) and Ishan Kishan (3 off 6).
Even Shreyas Iyer, the lone batter to cross double figures with 16 off 12, could not weather the storm, as the men in blue were starved of boundaries—scraping together just two fours and zero sixes throughout the entire Powerplay phase.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
