It has been absolute bonkers in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific qualifiers group “B” being held in Manila, as host’s Philippines have turned on the tables on the pre-tournament favourites Japan on the penultimate day of action.
The 4th and 5th round of round-robin phase matches in the tournament produced some of the best thrilling encounters as Philippines and Japan scampered to get the points to be at the top of the points table and in the all-important clash, the host’s prevailed over their much fancied opponents to claim a 3-run victory to go on top of the points table.
It has been quite a turnaround for Japan in the reverse direction, losing two matches back-to-back to Indonesia and Philippines, after remaining unbeaten in their first three games. South Korea and Indonesia are both out of the running for the top spot in the tournament but their final group matches against Japan and Philippines will determine the winner of the tournament and the single qualification spot from group B of East Asia-Pacific region into the regional finals in 2019 in Papua New Guinea.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Group B Points Table:
| TEAM | Matches | Win | Loss | Tied/NR | Points | NRR |
| Philippines | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0.11 |
| Japan | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.328 |
| South Korea | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0.101 |
| Indonesia | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | -0.528 |
