Mighty Sri Lanka, the world's third-best Test team, looked distinctly second-rate on Wednesday when minnows Nepal came agonisingly close to pulling off a stunning Asian Games upset. Despite boasting 11 players in their squad who have played international one-day cricket, Sri Lanka only squeezed past Nepal's amateurs by two wickets to set-up a semi-final clash with Bangladesh.
Thursday's other last-four showdown will feature Pakistan against Afghanistan who comfortably saw off Hong Kong by eight wickets in their quarter-final. After Nepal had been restricted to 72 all out, with former Test player Jehan Mubarak claiming three wickets, Sri Lanka reached 31-1 before suffering a worrying middle order collapse, losing six wickets for just 11 runs. Captain Paras Khadka, Basant Regmi and Amrit Bhattarai took two wickets each for Nepal, who play in the World Cricket League Division Four.
Hong Kong had no answer to Afghan opening pair Shahpur Zadran and Merwais Ashraf, slumping to 15-6 in the eighth over. Zadran grabbed 2-9 and Ashraf took 3-8 in their allotted four-over spells as the Hong Kong batsmen looked out of their depth on a pitch offering some encouragement to the bowlers. Mohammad Shahzad and Nawroz Mangal both finished unbeaten on 20.
"We are a good bowling side. We have two fast bowlers and it's difficult to bat on this wicket as it's a seaming wicket," said skipper Mohammad Nabi. Coach Rashid Latif, a former Pakistan Test player, said he was confident Afghanistan could beat Pakistan, predicting a low-scoring contest on the bowler-friendly pitch. "On paper Afghanistan are stronger than Pakistan and I'm very hopeful because my players are mentally and physically tough. "We have a good fast bowling and spinning attack and are agile in the field," he said.