Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Oman qualify for Asian Games men’s cricket competition

DUBAI (Agencies): Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman have qualified for the 2026 Asian Games men’s cricket competition, to be held in Japan in September-October. Nepal and Malaysia topped Group A while Hong Kong and Oman were at the top of Group B of the qualifying tournament in Singapore. Nepal, who played the T20 World Cup earlier this year, defeated China by 221 runs to start their campaign. They posted 313 for 2 with opener Kushal Bhurtel smashing a 43-ball 129. In the process, they became the first team with multiple 300-plus totals in men’s T20 cricket. Nepal then beat Malaysia by 167 runs with Bhurtel scoring another century in the team’s total of 275 for 7. With Qatar, part of their group, withdrawing before the start of the tournament, Nepal secured the top spot by virtue of the two wins. Malaysia beat China in their opening fixture, which secured qualification for them. In Group B, both Hong Kong and Oman defeated Bahrain and Singapore to stay unbeaten, with their last league fixture becoming a formality to decide the semi-final line-ups. The winner of the Hong Kong versus Oman fixture will take on Malaysia in the semi-final with the losing side facing Nepal, though the outcomes of those games won’t affect qualification. These four teams will join Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, who had secured automatic qualification as they are the Full Member nations from Asia, and Japan, who qualified by virtue of being hosts. The men’s tournament will be played from September 24 with the final on October 3. Last week, Thailand, Malaysia and China had secured qualification for the eight-team women’s cricket event at the 20th Asian Games, which will be held from September 17 to 22.