Japan Cricket Association (JCA) organized the 2020 Embassy Cup at Sano International Cricket Ground on Sep 26th and 27th, where team’s from Embassies of India, Pakistan, Britain, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh took part along with two team’s fielded by JCA.
For national squad members of Japan and U19 players, who represented the country in the 2020 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, the tournament provided yet another opportunity to play competitive cricket at home, in a season which has been confined to only domestic action due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions at place.
The likes of Masaomi Kobayashi, Muneeb Mian Siddique and Makoto Taniyama impressed for Japan “A” squad in group A of the tournament, while Sota Wada, Akira Kuribayashi and Marcus Thurgate put up good performances for Japan “B” squad in group B of the tournament. On the opening day of the competition, Japan “A” registered victory over Indian Embassy team, while Japan “B” won their group match against Bangladesh Embassy. On the second day of the tournament, Japan “B” won the group final agianst Nepal Embassy, while Japan “A” lost their group final against Pakistan Embassy.
Sota Wada registered a fine unbeaten half-century in Japan “B” win over Bangladesh Embassy, making 63 runs in the innings with Shogo Kimura also impressing in his unbeaten knock of 47 runs. Akira Kuribayashi scalped 5 wickets in the 2 matches, and other bowlers in Japan “B” squad also provided good support with Nozomi Tomizawa with 3 wickets, Kohei Wakita, Ashley Thurgate and Daichi Motoyama with 2 wickets each to their names.
Although the batting department for Japan “A” squad wasn’t up to the mark, the bowlers put up decent returns with Muneeb Mian Siddique picking up 5 wickets, and Kohei Kubota along with Makoto Taniyama picking 3 wickets each in the two matches played by the team.
Japan are scheduled to play against Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Philippines, Samoa, South Korea and Vanuatu in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Regional Final – East Asia-Pacific tournament in 2021, the dates and host nation yet to be decided as other regional events have been postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic globally.
