Japan crowned 2018 East Asia Cup Champions

Japan remained unbeaten throughout 2018 East Asia Cup in Hong Kong to emerge as the eventual Champions on an action-packed final day of the tournament after the final was brought ahead a day earlier due to Typhoon Mangkhut, which lashed across the country on 16th Sep 2018.

The highlight of the final day though was provided by CHK Dragons, who stunned a much stronger Korean line-up to claim their place in the final of the tournament. The Final, though turned out to be a one-sided affair as Japan proved too strong for CHK Dragons to topple on the same day.

CHK Dragons Jason Lui served up a timely reminder to HK Blitz franchises to not only get picked during the domestic players draft, but also get more than a game as provisioned by the tournament rules. CHK Dragons captain, Li-Kai Ming also continued his upward curve and will also be hoping as same as Jason to showcase his talents in more than a game in 2019 Blitz.

There was no stopping Japan though, as they began the day with a comfortable win over China and wrapped up the evening by winning the 2018 East Asia Cup Title. Makoto Taniyama was at his best in the final, contributing heavily with both bat and ball to cap off a brilliant tournament for him on a personal note.

China will now move ahead and take part in the upcoming ICC World T20 Asia “B” qualifiers in Oct 2018 in Malaysia, while Korea and Japan will be involved in ICC World T20 East Asia-Pacific “B” qualifiers in Nov 2018 in Philippines.

Brief Scores:

China 103/6 in 20 overs (Zhang Yu Fei 56, Jiang Shuyao 21, Rui Matsumura 4/9, Kazumasa Takahashi 1/6) lost to Japan 107/3 in 16.3 overs (Naotsune Miyaji 28, Souta Wada 23, Shogo Kimura 13 n.o, Song Yulin 1/22, Tian Sen Qun 1/17) by 7 wickets

Korea 146/9 in 20 overs (Park Keunyeol 51, Choi Jiwon 30, Sung Daesik 13, Ka-U Lynn 2/12, Nigel Sun 2/23, Li-Kai Ming 1/23, Henry Siu 1/25) lost to CHK Dragons 147/4 in 15.5 overs (Jason Lui 84 n.o, Li-Kai Ming 20, Damien Yee 14, Kim Daeyeon 2/32) by 6 wickets

Final: Japan 160 all out in 19.4 overs (Tomoki Ota 42, Makoto Taniyama 34, Tsuyoshi Takada 19, Kazumasa Takahashi 14, Henry Siu 4/29, Li-Kai Ming 2/32, Ka-U Lynn 2/33) beat CHK Dragons 74 all out in 18.1 overs (Jason Lui 19, Ken Tsang 16, Tsuyoshi Takada 4/13, Makoto Taniyama 3/11, Jun Yamashita 1/10) by 86 runs