Archive · 23 Sep 2026
India Edge Japan After Controversial Final-Over Wide Reversal
India played Japan in a very short cricket match because rain reduced the game to five overs per team.
India scored 32 runs while losing four wickets.
Japan then needed eight runs in the last over to win.
A batter tried a reverse sweep against India’s Axar Patel.
The umpire first called the delivery wide, giving Japan an extra run.
After the umpires discussed the decision, they changed it to a dead ball and removed the extra run.
The rules allow a wide decision to be changed before the next ball is bowled.
Japan eventually finished two runs short, so India won.
India defeated Japan by two runs in a rain-reduced five-over-per-side T20 match in Sano.
Japan needed eight runs from the final over while chasing India’s total of 32 for four.
Umpire Chris Thurgate initially called a delivery from Axar Patel wide as Alexander Shirai-Patmore attempted a reverse sweep.
The decision was overturned after Thurgate consulted square-leg umpire Chris Brown, and the ball was declared dead.
Japan fell two runs short, while Indian spinners Axar Patel and Washington Sundar helped defend the low total.
- Who
- India and Japan; key figures included Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Alexander Shirai-Patmore, Chris Thurgate and Chris Brown.
- What
- India beat Japan by two runs after a disputed wide call was reversed during the final over.
- When
- Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
- Where
- Sano, Japan.
- Why
- Rain reduced the match to five overs per side, and India defended a total of 32 for four.
Decision Was Correctable
Decision Was Inconsistent
Reverse-sweep interpretation
Decision Was Correctable
Under the cited ICC interpretation, attempting or preparing for a reverse sweep can negate the normal leg-side wide interpretation, making the reversal permissible.
Decision Was Inconsistent
The first similar delivery had also been called wide, but that decision was allowed to stand, creating an inconsistent application of the rule.
Impact on the result
Decision Was Correctable
The umpires were permitted to change the decision before the next ball, and the dead-ball ruling was made during a close final over.
Decision Was Inconsistent
Removing Japan’s extra run was significant because Japan ultimately lost by only two runs.
Review process
Decision Was Correctable
The correction was made on the field after Chris Thurgate and Chris Brown discussed the call, despite the absence of a TV umpire and DRS.
Decision Was Inconsistent
The lack of television review and the failure to overturn the earlier wide contributed to the controversy.
- Result
- India defeated Japan by two runs.
- Match format
- One-off T20 match reduced to five overs per side.
- India’s total
- 32 for four in five overs.
- Japan’s final-over requirement
- Eight runs from six deliveries.
- Disputed decision
- A wide call was reversed and the delivery was declared dead.
- India’s bowling figures
- Washington Sundar took two wickets for 13 runs; Axar Patel took two wickets without conceding a run.
- Japan’s leading spinner
- Charlie Hara Hinze took two wickets for 17 runs.
