India beat Japan by two runs after overturned wide in one-off T20 at Sano
India and Japan played a one-off T20 at Sano Cricket Ground on 22 September 2026 in which world champions India escaped a shock defeat when a wide was controversially overturned in the final over, leaving them two runs ahead. The match had been reduced to five overs a side.
India were restricted to 32-4 in their five overs; Shreyas Iyer scored 16 off 12 balls and Charlie Hara-Hinze took 2-17. Japan finished on 30-3 in reply with Kadowaki-Fleming 12 off 12 and Washington returning figures of 2-13, leaving India the winners by two runs.
Axar Patel bowled the final over and a pivotal moment came when Japan left-hander Alexander Shirai-Patmore attempted a reverse-sweep and the delivery went down the leg side — which, the report notes, "would have been the batter's off side had he been attempting a conventional shot". The on-field umpire initially signalled a wide, prompting visible frustration from Axar and a dispute alongside captain Shreyas Iyer. After the two umpires conferred following India's complaints, the wide call was overturned.
The overturned decision altered the chase: Japan had needed eight off the final over before the reversal, and the change left them requiring six from three balls rather than five from four. Axar completed the over and finished with figures of 0-7 from two overs; Japan were left agonisingly short on 30-3.
The outcome aligns with wording in the ICC's playing conditions for men's T20 internationals, which state a batter loses the usual leg-side wide protection when he or she "changes the position of their hands or feet to play a reversed shot." The conditions add a wide should be called "if the ball passes wide of where the striker is standing, and which also would have passed wide of the striker standing in a normal batting position." The incident drew attention because the decision was overturned despite there being no decision review system (DRS) in place for the match, and the preamble to the playing conditions refers to the "spirit of cricket", listing "accept the umpire's decision" among those points, although that is not one of the game's laws.
Japan's chase had begun poorly at 8-2 after two overs before they scored 17 off the next two overs to stay in contention. The 17-year-old spinner Charlie Hara-Hinze claimed two wickets, including that of destructive opener Abhishek Sharma with his first ball; Shreyas Iyer's 16 off 12 provided some relief after India had been 14-3 earlier in their innings.
The fixture was the first time the two teams had met in an international match because Japan have never reached a T20 World Cup. The one-off game served as preparation for the men's Asian Games.
The match was staged ahead of the men's Asian Games, which start on 24 September, and earlier at the same event India cruised to victory in the women's Asian Games final, thrashing Sri Lanka by 147 runs.
