Jubilant Japan Claim First Win

Japan has won its ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier playoff match against Zimbabwe in Dhaka today.

It came down to a nail biting finish, with the Japanese side winning by just six runs, thanks largely to one of the more complete individual performances of the tournament from Japanese captain Ema Kuribayashi.

Kuribayashi lost the toss and was put into bat by Zimbabwe. Opener Mariko Yamamoto was so keen to get out onto the field she forgot to put on her pads and had to be sent back to the sheds to get changed.

The first wicket fell in the 13th over with the score on 42 when Ayako Iwasaki tried to sweep and was out LBW to the bowling of Sharne Mayers. Shizuka Miyaji was the next to fall, run out in the 15th over.

Yamamoto managed to stay in until the 26th over when she was bowled for 38, the second highest score for the Japanese team. Kuribayashi was able to steady the ship and just fell short of a half century with 47 off 82 balls. When Kuribayashi departed the Japanese were well poised on 124/4 after 43 overs.

The Japanese were able to bat their overs, reaching 152.

It was a positive start with the ball. The first wicket fell on the second ball of the innings when Kurumi Ota bowled a stunning yorker, leaving Zimbabwe 1/1.

The Zimbabwe batsmen were able to consolidate the innings and put pressure on the Japanese bowlers, until the 19th over when they lost their second wicket and were 57/2. The key wicket was that of Zimbabwean stroke maker Modester Mupachikwa who was bowled by Kuribayashi in the 30th over. Miho Kanno then executed a stellar run out two overs later and Zimbabwe were teetering on 88/5. Kuribayashi also participated in a run out, direct hit, in the 39th over.

When Zimbabwe took their batting power-play, the Japanese bowlers were able to restrict the runs, only allowing three runs in the first three overs. The pressure, however was still not off the Japanese. From the last 10 overs Zimbabwe needed 30 runs with four wickets in hand. However the bowlers kept their discipline, and were able to restrict the opposition to 146/8 off the 50 overs.

Bowlers of note included Shizuka Miyaji with 1/19 off nine overs and Mariko Yamamoto with 1/26 from ten overs

Kuribayashi's leadership was recognised with the player of the match award. She scored 47 with the bat, took two catches, and a direct hit run out. With the ball she bowled 10 overs, one wicket for 26 runs.

Head coach Chris Ferguson said he was absolutely thrilled with the way his team performed today.

"It was a truly great game to witness, and both teams contributed. I?d like to thank the Zimbabweans for their competitive spirit today. It was a very close game and it could have gone either way, but we took our chances when it counted," he said. "This is a special day for Japan Cricket. We are still in our infancy as a cricket nation and for the players to show the resilience to get up and beat a strong cricket nation was just fantastic."

"It was a complete team effort and I couldn't be prouder of the way they performed. We wanted to express ourselves, be aggressive and show the cricket world what we can produce and they certainly showed that," he concluded.

That was the final game for the Japanese side in the tournament. They finished the event with a world ranking of 13 which is the highest of any East Asia-Pacific country in either men?s or women?s cricket.