Rain cuts India's first T20I in Japan to five overs a side as Iyer opts to bat

India's first men's T20I against Japan was cut to five overs a side at Sano after a wet outfield delayed the toss by more than two hours

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat in the only T20I of the tour, a fixture the two countries had never played before.

Rain through the morning left the square protected but the outfield soaked, and the umpires walked the ground repeatedly before clearing a heavily shortened game at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

The match doubles as preparation for the Asian Games tournament both sides will contest in Japan, and as the cricketing centrepiece of a year marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

A morning lost to the outfield

The scheduled start passed with the covers still down. Officials set an inspection for 1.15pm local time, were unhappy with what they found, and put the ground back under review rather than name a start.

A second inspection followed two hours later, by which point the sun was out and the damp underfoot was the only thing keeping the players off.

India's squad filled the wait with a football warm-up on the outfield, a familiar sight at rain-hit grounds and one that doubled as a check on the footing.

Five overs to settle a first meeting

By the time the captains reached the middle, the playing time left was measured in minutes, and the umpires handed both sides a game barely a quarter of its intended length.

At five overs a side the match keeps its international status but almost none of its shape. There is no room for an opening burst to be absorbed, and a single over can decide it.

Iyer explained the decision to bat as much by the occasion as by the surface, calling it "a big occasion" at the toss and pointing to the friendship the fixture is meant to mark.

The one-off carries no reserve day, so a reduced game was the only way to get a result on the board rather than send both teams away with nothing.

A landmark afternoon for Japan

Japan are led by Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming, their most prolific T20I batter and the senior figure in a side built largely from cricketers raised between two countries and two languages.

A home fixture against India's white-ball names is the largest audience the team has played in front of, and the first time a men's Indian side has travelled to Japan for an international.

For a nation whose cricket is concentrated around a handful of grounds in Tochigi Prefecture, hosting the fixture at all is the story; the weather simply compressed it.

The Asian Games sit behind it

Both squads move on from Sano to the Asian Games, where cricket is again a medal sport and where India arrive as the side everyone else measures themselves against.

India's women have spent the past fortnight in the same country chasing a title of their own, leaving the men's group to treat this trip as its only competitive hit-out before the tournament proper.

Five overs give a selector little to read, which may matter less than the fact that the game was played at all.

Little settled beyond the toss

No innings had been completed when this report was filed, with the match listed as in progress and the result line still blank.

Reports around the delay differed on the composition of both teams, so the batting orders that eventually took the field are the only ones worth recording.

India and Japan had never met in a men's international before Tuesday, and the weather made sure the first meeting was a short one.

Catch the match live updates, highlights, and full match coverage on CricRadio. Get fast, accurate, and ad-free updates throughout the game. Download the CricRadio app from the Play Store to stay connected. You can also get the live scores of cricket series directly on the CricRadio website for real-time coverage.