Sano CC wins SriLankan Airlines Japan Cup

Sano Cricket Club has won the second annual Srilankan Airlines Japan Cup which was held from 8 to 10 October.

The three day Twenty20 national championship was played at Fuji Cricket Ground with five teams vying for the title. Sano Cricket Club qualified to play in the championship by winning the North Kanto qualifying tournament. Similarly ADORE Cricket Club qualified by winning the South Kanto qualifying tournament, while Hokkaido, Nagano, and Kansai selected a representative team for the championship.

Last year Sano lost in the final, however they were able to perform under pressure this year to take home the title against Nagano winning by 75 runs.

Sano won all its round-robin games with ease, and were able to put 142/5 on the scoreboard for the final. It was too much for Nagano to chase, only reaching 67/9 off its 20 overs.

Sano captain and Japan national player Naoki Miyaji said he was pleased with the result. “We are delighted and honoured to win the prestigious SriLankan Airlines Japan Cup,” he said. “Last year we lost in the final, but this year we worked hard, stuck to our game plan and came out with an excellent result.

“We were able to keep wickets in hand, take catches and bowl maidens.

That helped us secure the wins we needed to eventually progress through to the final and take the title,” Miyaji said.

Individual accolades were also awarded. The Most Valuable Player was given to Daniel Mee from Nagano who scored 182 runs and took 10 wickets during the tournament. Mee also secured the top batting award for the tournament. Adore CC member Shinpei Hagiwara was recognised as the best bowler of the tournament, having the best economy rate of 2.30.

Tournament manager Ema Kuribayashi said the three day tournament was a huge success. “All the teams played very well and there were a number of hard-fought matches, along with some outstanding individual performances.

We’d like to thank the sponsors, especially SriLankan Airlines, because without them, this tournament would not have been possible,” she said.

JCA High Performance manager and national coach Chris Ferguson was also at the tournament and was impressed with the level of play.

“We saw some outstanding games over the last few days and a number of players stepped up and showed they are ready to play international cricket,” he said.

 “Tournaments like this bring all the best players in the country together to compete. It is good to see the future of cricket in Japan is looking bright.”