Sano, Sep 22 (IANS) : Japan captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming said his side could take immense pride from pushing two-time world champions India to the final ball despite suffering a narrow two-run defeat in their historic T20I clash at the Sano International Cricket Ground.
“I think I’ve been saying to a few other guys, that when it gets that close, it’s actually a little bit tougher to take, and the emotions are running pretty high in our group. But the fact that we were able to run the best team in the world, in my opinion, to the last ball of a game is pretty special,” Kadowaki-Fleming said.
“To hear someone like Shreyas talking about the progression of Japan cricket is still quite surreal. So, extremely proud of our group and the broader cricket community that we were able to make this game happen.”
Kadowaki-Fleming also acknowledged the contribution of everyone involved in staging the match, including title sponsor Suzuki, the BCCI and the Japan Cricket Association (JCA).
“And without Suzuki, the title sponsor, without the BCCI, to who we’re very grateful, and the JCA, this game wouldn’t have been possible. And even beyond that, there were people working on this ground through the whole night, volunteers, our female team who are here as well to support us, worked through the night to make this game happen,” he said.
“So, feeling extremely proud, not only of my team at the moment, but also the broader community.”
Japan were restricted to 32/4 by India after a delayed start, but Kadowaki-Fleming said the hosts entered their chase believing they could pull off an upset.
“Yeah, I think it was just excitement. We ran in and we knew that ‘anything is possible’ was the attitude. They’ve got some world-class spinners, Axar, Washington and Ravi Bishnoi bowling on our spinning wicket. We knew it was going to be an extreme challenge, but at six and a half an over your mind does sort of wander and think you get a couple out of the middle and you never know,” he said.
“As I said, extremely proud for us to take it to the last ball of the game.”
India eventually held their nerve to defend 33, winning by two runs. The result also marked their 200th T20I victory, including Super Over wins, while Japan’s performance provided a major boost to their hopes of progressing in the Asian Games.
Kadowaki-Fleming praised Japan’s bowling effort, particularly 17-year-old Charlie Hinze, who claimed 2/17.
“We’ve known that Charlie’s been around our men’s squad for a couple of years. He’s our 17-year-old prodigy. I was a little bit disappointed that the 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav (Sooryavanshi) wasn’t part of the team sheet today, but yeah, I mean, look, he’s progressing extremely well, with ball and in the field, and he showed that today, taking the first and the fifth.”
“I wasn’t surprised with how he went, and for the other two as well, Ito-Davis, Takahashi, to be able to bowl to some of the best players of spin in the world and to show their wares on this stage was great from them,” he added.
With Japan now turning their attention to the remainder of their Asian Games campaign, Kadowaki-Fleming said the team is already daring to dream of a place in the knockout stages and a potential medal challenge.
“Yeah, absolutely. I think that today was a really momentous occasion in that it was the first time we were able to face a full member. We’ve got around a 36-hour turnaround now till our second game against a full member. So we’re going to rest up tomorrow and we’ll prepare for that game,” he said.
“And obviously if we win one of our next two matches, we’re a chance to play another full member in the knockouts. So that’s definitely the goal. Two extremely strong opponents we’ve got over the next three days, but we’ll be competing as hard as we can.”
