Abit of controversy erupted at the fag end of the India vs Japan one-off T20I match on Tuesday when a wide call which was initially given by the on-field umpire against India was reversed and the ball was declared dead.
It was a game of fine margins as India defeated Japan by just 2 runs in a rain-truncated encounter.
The incident transpired in the last over of Japan’s chase with the hosts needing 8 runs from 6 deliveries. Axar Patel was the bowler and he fizzed the third ball of the over towards the leg side of the batter Alexander Shirai-Patmore who tried a reverse sweep and missed.
The umpire Chris Thurgate gave a wide but India were not happy with the decision as skipper Shreyas Iyer was seen having a word with the square leg umpire Chris Brown. Both umpires would then have a discussion and ended up reversing the decision and calling the delivery a dead ball and the extra run that was given to Japan for the wide call was chalked off.
Ultimately, the decision looked to be a crucial one as Japan fell short by juts 2 runs as India suffered an almighty scare but managed to get over the line.
With the match being reduced to five overs-a-side due to inclement weather and the underlying moisture on the surface offering more than expected turn, the apparent gulf in talent and experience was seemingly bridged as India managed only 32 for 4 in five overs hitting a total of three boundaries.
While defending the target, India looked in danger of being embarrassed when Ravi Bishnoi went for 10 runs in the third over and Washington Sundar (2/13) gave away seven in the penultimate over. However, with eight runs required off the final over, Axar’s (2-0-7-0) experience of playing 150-plus IPL games came in handy as he didn’t give any room to Shirai Patmore and Benjamin Ito-Davis to chance their arms.
It also helped that rain had slowed down the outfield.
Earlier, unheralded Japanese spinners challenged the star-studded Indian batting line-up to restrict them to a below-par 32 for 4, which might have made skipper Shreyas Iyer question his decision to bat first. The underlying moisture of the pitch helped in providing appreciable turn for left-arm spinner Charlie Hara Hinze (2/17) and off-spinner Ibrahim Takahashi (1/13). Abhishek Sharma (0) was dismissed by Hara-Hinze after the Indian swashbuckler mis-timed a slog sweep while Takahashi flighted one to deceive Sanju Samson (10) in the air with his heave being taken at mid-wicket boundary.
Benjamin Ito-Davis (1/2) then got rid of Ishan Kishan (3), who was consistently trying to hit against the turn and ended up ballooning one to mid-off. Shreyas Iyer (16) hit a boundary but the pitch was such that Indian players found it difficult to hit across the line.