AGOYA, Japan — Rain disrupted the Asian Games cricket tournament for a second straight day on Tuesday, with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh advancing to the men’s semi-finals after their quarter-final matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Sri Lanka were scheduled to face Nepal, while Bangladesh were due to play Malaysia at Korogi Sports Park on the southern outskirts of Nagoya.
The continued rain meant the higher-ranked teams advanced automatically to the last four.
Jarrad Shearer, the Games’ sports director, expressed his disappointment after organisers spent a year converting a baseball diamond into a cricket venue.
“Cricket, like baseball, you can’t play it in the rain. A year of my life on this, and it rains,” Shearer said.
Sri Lanka will face defending champions India in Thursday’s semi-final, while Bangladesh will take on Pakistan.
Bangladesh will be without batter Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was ruled out of the tournament with a fever and infection.
The washouts have limited action at the venue, but Shearer remained optimistic that conditions would improve in time for the semi-finals and the remaining matches.
With the quarter-finals decided by the weather, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh now turn their attention to the last four, where they will seek places in the gold-medal match.
