Bangladesh and Sri Lanka advanced to the men’s cricket semifinals at the Asian Games on Tuesday without taking to the field, after persistent rain in Nagoya forced both of their quarter-final matches to be abandoned.

Sri Lanka will face India in the semifinal, while Bangladesh are set to take on Pakistan. Both matches are scheduled for Thursday.

Sri Lanka secured their place in the last four after their quarter-final against Nepal was called off due to the wet conditions. Under the tournament rules, the higher-ranked team advances when a match is abandoned because of bad weather.

Bangladesh benefited from the same rule, progressing at the expense of lower-ranked Malaysia after their quarter-final was also washed out.

Defending champions India and Pakistan had already booked their semifinal places on Monday after rain disrupted and abandoned both of their respective quarter-final fixtures.

Nagoya and other parts of Japan’s Aichi prefecture have experienced heavy rainfall in recent days, causing widespread disruption to the cricket schedule. However, weather conditions are expected to improve from Wednesday.

Sun News/ rabbi