South Korea have beaten Japan to claim the East Asia Cup title ©ICC

South Korea enjoyed a four wicket victory over Japan in the final of the East Asia Cup cricket tournament after an exciting dual between two nations at the Sano international Cricket Ground in Kanto.

Captain Jun Hyunwoo was the star for the home side as they won the Twenty20 clash between two nations better known for baseball.

Disciplined bowling by South Korea restricted their opponents to 100 for 7.

Lee Kangmin and Jun picked up two wickets apiece. 

The latter went on to top score with 26 off 25 balls to cap a fine all-round performance as Korea reached 101 for 6 at the end of the 19th over.

South Korea produced a strong bowling performance before doing enough with the bat ©ICC
South Korea produced a strong bowling performance before doing enough with the bat ©ICC

This came after 16-year-old Mian Siddique took four wickets for just 12 runs to give Japan ultimately false hope in the middle overs.

According to the Japan Cricket Association. the game was attended by several hundred people, and was viewed by 14,000 people via live stream.

It is hailed as a strong legacy for the sport which opted not to apply for inclusion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games but could yet attempt to appear at the 2024 edition.

It was a particular breakthrough for South Korea, whose team were only set-up to appear at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games.