India survive Japan scare in rain-hit T20 International

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 Shreyas Iyer (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.