Murray brothers stroll to win to put Britain on cusp of victory against Japan

With the match poised a one apiece, captain Leon Smith opted to replace Dom Inglot with Britain's number one and world number two Andy Murray.

And with Japan opting not to play world number six Kei Nishikori in the doubles, it turned into something of a straight forward win for Great Britain as the Murrays triumphed 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to leave the holders one win from a quarter-final place.

The Murray siblings had proved to be a crucial partnership in Great Britain's title winning run last year. And they once again proved their pedigree as they maintained their 100 per cent Davis Cup doubles record with a victory in just one hour and 53 minutes.

In truth, they were untroubled by their opponents who, ranked outside the world's top 300 in the doubles, failed to bring up a single break point.

Attention now turns to Sunday's singles rubbers with Andy Murray set to face Nishikori while world number 157 Dan Evans will be up against world number 87 Daniel Taro if a decisive fifth rubber is required.

Smith said: "Andy's playing great despite the fact he hasn't played a lot of matches since the Australian Open final. Look at the last two days, he's ready. You know what Andy's going to do when he goes out; he's going to give 100% again. I think he can do it.

"Andy and Jamie put in a great performance. It's important to go 2-1 up as it gives us momentum going into tomorrow. Kei is a very dangerous opponent but with this format, we have two chances tomorrow with Andy and Dan."

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