NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 22 (Reuters) - World champions India survived a scare before edging out minnows Japan by two runs in a Twenty20 International that was reduced to five overs per side due to rain on Tuesday.
Electing to bat, India's batters struggled on a placid pitch and slow outfield with only skipper ShreyasIyer (16) managing a double-digit score as they posted 32-4.
The home side scored 30-3 in reply to fall just short of a memorable victory in the first T20 between the sides.
Japan had used diplomatic channels to line up the high-profile match against India, who planned to use the game to get used to conditions in Japan before beginning their Asian Games title defence.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Nagoya; editing by Peter Rutherford)
