Sri Lanka and Bangladesh Advance as Rain Washes Out Quarter-Finals
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh progress to the Asian Games semi-finals after persistent rain forces the abandonment of their quarter-final matches without a ball bowled.
Rain continued to disrupt the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh advancing to the men's cricket semi-finals after their quarter-final matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Sri Lanka had been scheduled to face Nepal, while Bangladesh were set to take on Malaysia at the Korogi Sports Park on the southern outskirts of Nagoya.
A second consecutive day of no play meant the higher-ranked teams progressed automatically to the last four, much to the frustration of tournament organisers.
Jarrad Shearer, the games' sports director, expressed deep disappointment after spending an entire year converting a baseball diamond into a cricket venue only to see minimal action.
"Cricket, like baseball, you can't play in the rain. A year of my life on this, and it rains," Shearer said regarding the consecutive washouts.
Sri Lanka will now take on defending champions India, while Bangladesh face Pakistan in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Bangladesh will be without batter Najmul Hossain Shanto, however, after he was ruled out of the tournament due to a fever and infection.
Despite the washouts, tournament officials remained optimistic that the weather would clear in time for the upcoming matches with the help of drying equipment and expected sunshine.