Sri Lanka and Bangladesh advance as rain washes out cricket again

NAGOYA: Persistent rain continued to interrupt the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday, leading to the advancement of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to the men's cricket semi-finals. Both teams had been scheduled to face opponents in the quarter-finals, but their matches were called off without any bowling taking place. Sri Lanka was set to compete against Nepal, while Bangladesh were to play Malaysia.

However, two days of no play at the Korogi Sports Park, located on the southern outskirts of Nagoya, resulted in the higher-ranked teams advancing to the final four. Games director Jarrad Shearer expressed his disappointment, noting that a year of effort converting a baseball diamond into a cricket venue yielded minimal action. "Cricket, like baseball, you can't play it in the rain," Shearer remarked.

Sri Lanka will now face defending champions India, while Bangladesh will take on Pakistan in the semi-finals on Thursday. Bangladesh will be without Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a fever and infection. Despite the weather disruptions, Shearer remained hopeful that the conditions would improve by tomorrow morning, enabling the team to dry up the affected areas and capitalize on the expected sunny and warm weather.