India, Sept. 22 -- India survived by the skin of its teeth in the one-off T20I against Japan on Tuesday, winning the contest by two runs in a nail-biting thriller at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Sano. The five-overs shootout went down to the final ball, when Japan had a full chance of pulling off a historic upset in its first-ever T20I against a full-member nation. But Axar Patel turned saviour, holding his nerve to seal a narrow win. The performance, however, could not mask the cracks as India's batting once again highlighted India's struggles against spin.

The match got underway after a lengthy delay due to the wet outfield. Despite bright sunshine at 9:30 AM IST, an overnight downpour had left the ground unfit for play. Af...