Pakistan have advanced to the Asian Games semifinal without taking the field in their men’s cricket quarterfinal match against Hong Kong as relentless rain played spoilsport, and the match has been abandoned without a ball being bowled here at the Korogi Sports Park on Monday.
Pakistan and Hong Kong had met twice in this format, in the 2022 Asia Cup and 2023 Asian Games, with Pakistan winning both.
Hong Kong reached the quarter-finals after winning one of their two group games. Pakistan, meanwhile, came straight in the quarter-finals after receiving the bye in the first and were the strong favourites with the new-look side under a new captain Sahibzada Farhan. In case the heavens open and wash the match out, India will be declared the winner against Afghanistan, as they are the higher-ranked T20I teams than their opponents.
In 2023 Hangzhou, India had claimed gold by virtue of their higher seeding than gold medal match adversaries Afghanistan, after the final was washed out by rain.
