Japan v Samoa: Japan bow out with another loss - http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World Cricket League East Asia Pacific Region Division One T20 - Match Recap
Samoa defeated Japan by six wickets in a closely contested match of the ICC World Cricket League East Asia Pacific Region Division One T20, played at the Amini Park, Port Moresby, July 6, 2011.
Playing first, Japan made 123 for the loss of three wickets. However, as expected the score was not enough and Samoa chased the total by the penultimate over of the match.
The defeat puts Japan http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Papua-New-Guinea-c41002 awaits them.
As it has been the course of the tournament, the captain winning the toss has usually opted to bat first. Therefore when Japan’s Skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tatsuro-Chino-c92884, won the toss it was hardly a surprise when he chose to bat first.
The start of the Japan innings was cautious but solid, as openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ko-Irie-c71601 and Qureshi Naeemuddin put on 49 for the first wicket.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Naeemuddin-c78482 especially looked assured and treated the ball at merit. His knock of 42 off 43, included 3 huge sixes and couple of boundaries.
After he fell to medium pacer Naa Vassali, it was Jarred Shearer who took over and started to accelerate the pace of the innings.
He was well supported by Hanif Kahn who made a quick fire 17 off 12 balls that included three good-looking boundaries.
As the innings came to a http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Close-c51347, Shearer remained unbeaten, top scoring with 44 off 35 balls. His innings was well compiled, hitting two crisp boundaries and a maximum stroke out of the ground.
At the end their 20 overs, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Japan-c2928 had reached to their highest total of the tournament so far, setting a target of 124. It was surprising that only 3 wickets fell.
As for the Samoa bowlers, all were economical except for Sean Cotter who went for 40 in his four overs. The rest bowled within themselves, restricting the Japanese from scoring freely.
The only wicket taker was Vaasili, who had figures of 1-25. There were two run outs in the Japan innings. Their fielders Faasao Mulivai and Pritchard Pritchard were top notch.
Samoa reply didn’t start off well as captain Geoff http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 went in the first over, run out, courtesy of some good fielding by Naoki Miyaji.
However, it was just a scare as opener Sean Cotter batted sensibly to guide his side to victory. He remained unbeaten on 41, which included three fours.
He was well supported by the middle order, as all chipped in with runs. Faasao Mulivai was the star, as he hit 4 huge sixes in his knock of 35 off just 23 balls.
There was a wicket each for Kazuyuki Ogawa, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Naoki-Alexander-Miyaji-c78595.
The defeat puts Japan out of the tournament. However, it would have been a great experience and hopefully the team will learn from their mistakes and bounce back strongly in future tournaments.
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