Windhoek [Namibia], January 23 : Japan captain Kazuma Kato-Stafford reflected on his side's "unbelievable" ICC U19 World Cup edition this year, which saw them put up promising performances against Sri Lanka, Australia and Ireland so far and "learning how to handle pressure".
This is Japan's second Under-19 World Cup after the 2020 edition. During that tournament, they were in Group A with India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Their first U19 WC was not a great experience, as they got out for 41 against India and 43 against Sri Lanka after their NZ match ended in a no-result. They did score 115 runs against Nigeria in the 15th-place play-off but lost, ending up as the bottom-placed side.
This time around, while they have lost three matches so far and have one left against Tanzania, their outings have been more promising, and some milestones have been made.
In the first clash against Sri Lanka, while they did concede 387/4 against Sri Lanka, with Viran Chamuditha (192 in 143 balls) smashing the highest score in the tournament's history, Japan did not fold under scoreboard pressure and at one point was at 106/3 in the 27th over. A massive credit for this fight goes to Hugo Tani-Kelly (101* in 162 balls, with six fours and a six), who made Japan's first-ever century at the U19 level in youth ODIs. Japan batted all fifty overs, scoring 184/8, showing the courage to hang around.
Their next outing against defending champions Australia saw them improve their batting a bit, putting up 201/8 in 50 overs after opting to bat first, with Kelly (79 in 135 balls, with six fours) showing his class against the Aussie bowling line-up. Nihar Parmar (33) had a 58-run stand for the second wicket with Kelly after Nikhil Pol was dismissed early. Montgomery Hara-Hinze (29 in 51 balls) and Charlie Hara-Hinze (24 in 22 balls, with two fours and a six) also registered important scores. While Australia chased down the target courtesy a record-breaking century by Will Malajczuk (102 in 55 balls, with 10 fours and five sixes), the fastest in U19 WC history (in 51 balls), Japan made the Aussies, mighty irrespective of the age-group, level, wait for their chase for almost 30 overs with eight wickets in hand.
Once again against Ireland, Japan played its full quota of 50 overs, scoring 247/9 after electing to bat first. Charlie Hara-Hinze (57 in 70 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Gabriel Hara-Hinze (44 in 29 balls, with six fours and a six) shone with the bat, and six batters touched/crossed the 20-run mark. A 68-run stand for the fifth wicket between Charlie and skipper Kazuma (24 in 57 balls, with a four) and a 62-run stand for the eighth wicket between Gabriel and Skyler Cook (30 in 37 balls, with three fours and a six) showed the improving depth and resilience of their batting. Ireland chased down the total, but had to slug it out for 48 overs and had four wickets in hand, with skipper Kazuma (2/42 in nine overs), Nihar Parmar (0/44 in 10 overs) and Charlie (1/45 in 10 overs) delivering commendable performances with the ball.
This tournament saw Japan come extremely far in terms of their batting, having batted 50 overs in all matches so far and showing some encouraging signs with the ball. Kelly (200 runs in three matches with a century and fifty each at an average of 200.00) and pacer Timothy Moore's five wickets at an average of 14.60 are two massive positives the team would take back home.
Speaking on the campaign so far, Japan skipper Kazuma said as quoted by ICC, "It is not every day an Associate nation gets to come up against three full Test-level nations and three of the best in the world."
"It was absolutely huge. An unbelievable experience. We have got a number of guys, I think more than half the squad, available for the next World Cup, so it is a really good experience for them, especially playing under pressure, playing against some world-class players, who I have no doubt will go on to big things."
"Just being able to put Japan Cricket on the world stage is just a really good honour, and hopefully it is onto bigger and better things from here," he added.
The captain said that the tournament helped them learn handle pressure, bounce back after setbacks and try out different options.
"Normally, we have been reliant on a few bowlers through the middle (but) this time around we've been able to rely on a few other guys. With the bat, especially, I have been really happy that I have been able to rely on a number of players who have really stood up for us, so I have been really happy with that. Happy overall with the experience, the fight we have shown and being able to play our Japan way," he concluded.