Nepal Reach Asian Games Quarter-Final, Japan Out After Washout

Nepal are into the Asian Games quarter-final after rain wiped out Japan's reply at Korogi Sports Park on Saturday. Nepal had made 149 for 4 from an innings cut to 15 overs. Japan never batted. The abandonment was logged as a no result, and the single point that came with it was enough to put Nepal top of Group A. Japan are out. Sri Lanka await in the last eight on 29 September.

Japan won the toss and chose to field. Rain had already cut the match to 15 overs a side. It came back as soon as Nepal's innings ended, and the chase never began.

Jora and Bam pile on 149

Nepal were in trouble early. Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla and Gulsan Jha all fell for single-figure scores. Aasif Sheikh made 21 from 15 balls. That left the innings to Sundeep Jora and Lokesh Bam.

Jora finished on 57 not out from 32 balls, with five fours and three sixes. Bam was quicker still. He made 52 not out from 22 balls. Six of his scoring shots cleared the rope, against a single four. The Kathmandu Post reported it as his maiden T20I half century. The pair made 109 of the 149 between them. Nepal scored at just under 10 an over.

Rain settles Group A

A no result splits the points. Nepal took one and added it to the two from their five wicket win over Afghanistan on 25 September. That left them on three from two matches. Afghanistan finished on two. Japan, beaten by 48 runs by Afghanistan on the opening day, ended on one and are eliminated.

Nepal's route through the bracket

Ten teams entered the men's competition. Four were seeded. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka went straight into the quarter-finals. The other six were split into two groups of three for a single round robin. The top two in each group went through.

That produces four quarter-finals across two days at Nisshin:

• Pakistan against the Group B runner-up, 28 September, 9am local time
• India against Afghanistan, 28 September, 1.30pm local time
• Sri Lanka against Nepal, 29 September, 9am local time
• Bangladesh against the Group B winner, 29 September, 1.30pm local time

Both semi-finals are on 1 October. The bronze and gold medal matches follow on 3 October.

Group B still unresolved

Group B was still open when Group A closed. Malaysia beat Hong Kong, China by eight wickets on the opening day. Hong Kong then beat Oman by 41 runs on 25 September. The second qualifying place was left to the Malaysia against Oman fixture later on Saturday, which starts five hours after the Nepal match did.

Afghanistan drop into India's half

Afghanistan's defeat by Nepal sent them into India's half of the draw. The two meet on 28 September. Nepal, by topping the group, drew Sri Lanka instead, two days later.

Nepal lost the quarter-final to India at the 2022 Games. They have never won an Asian Games cricket medal. One more win puts them in a semi-final, and every semi-finalist at these Games has a medal match to play on 3 October.