Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman seal spots in Asian Games men’s cricket event

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The four teams emerged from the qualification tournament to complete the ten-team field for the competition, which begins on September 24.

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Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman have qualified for the men’s cricket competition at the 20th Asian Games, joining Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and hosts Japan in the ten-team tournament scheduled to run from September 24 to October 3.

Nepal dominated the qualification event with two emphatic victories. They opened their campaign with a massive 221-run win over China after posting 313 for 2, powered by a blistering 43-ball 129 from opener Kushal Bhurtel. The result saw Nepal become the first team in men’s T20 cricket history to register multiple totals exceeding 300 runs. They followed it up with another commanding performance against Malaysia, winning by 167 runs after scoring 275 for 7, with Bhurtel once again reaching three figures.

With Qatar withdrawing from the group before the tournament began, Nepal finished at the top of their group thanks to their two victories. Malaysia also progressed after defeating China in their opening match, securing qualification despite the heavy loss to Nepal.

In Group B, Hong Kong and Oman both remained unbeaten with wins over Bahrain and Singapore. Their final group-stage encounter will determine the semi-final match-ups, with the winner set to face Malaysia and the loser taking on Nepal. However, both teams had already guaranteed qualification before that fixture.

The four successful qualifiers complete the men’s line-up alongside Asia’s five Full Member nations — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — and hosts Japan, who qualified automatically.

Earlier, Thailand, Malaysia and China secured places in the women’s cricket competition, which will be held from September 17 to 22 ahead of the men’s event.

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