Japan U19 Cricket Team has qualified for the U19 Asia Cup 2023 after securing third place in the ACC U19 Premier Cup. Japan U19 defeated Singapore U19 by 16 runs (DLS method) on Monday to confirm the seat.
The Premier Cup’s top three teams had a chance to qualify for the upcoming Asia Cup, which is scheduled to be hosted in Pakistan in December. Nepal and UAE secured their spots by winning their respective semifinal matches. In addition, Japan secured a place by winning the third-place match against Singapore.
Opting to bat first at YSD UKM Oval, Japan scored 164 runs before being bowled out in 49.4 overs. The extra conceded by Singapore (33) was more than any individual score by the Japanese batter. Opener Aditya Phadke scored 28 runs while Charlie Hinze scored 25 runs.
In the second inning, Singapore could manage only 131/8 in 40 overs, falling short by 16 runs from the revised DLS target. Aryaveer Chaudhary scored 34 runs whereas Harsha Bharadwaj remained not out for 23 runs. Japanese bowlers also conceded 30 extra runs.
Japan previously featured in the U19 Cricket World Cup 2020 after winning the East Asia-Pacific regional qualifying tournament in 2019.
The three teams qualified from U19 Premier Cup will join the youth teams of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the tournament set to be hosted in Pakistan.
