Sixty-Five Off Thirty, Then the Rain: Nepal Top Group A Without Japan Facing a Ball

There will be no result in the record books from Nisshin on Saturday, but there was a story in the 15 overs that were played. Rain had already shortened the match to 15 overs a side when Japan won the toss and chose to field, and for ten overs their decision looked a good one. Nepal were 84 for 4, and Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla and Gulsan Jha had all gone cheaply.

The last five overs belonged to Sundeep Jora and Lokesh Bam. They added 65 unbroken from 30 balls, Bam reaching his fifty from 22 balls and Jora his from 28, and Nepal finished on 149 for 4. Japan never got to bat. The rain returned, the match was called off, and the point that came with it put Nepal on top of Group A and Japan out of the Games.

For the hosts, the first two-thirds of the innings was as good as anything they have done at these Games. Reo Sakurano-Thomas removed Bhurtel in the third over, caught by Shirai-Patmore, and his two overs cost only seven runs. Nepal's shortened powerplay brought just 28 for 1 from 4.3 overs.

Aasif Sheikh and Jora then added 55 from 29 balls, and the game threatened to get away. Japan pulled it back. Jake Kusuda-Nairn had Sheikh caught by Ibrahim Takahashi, Declan Suzuki removed Malla, and Takahashi got rid of Jha off the last ball of the tenth over. Three wickets had fallen for 22 runs, and 62 for 1 had become 84 for 4.

What followed showed the depth of Nepal's batting. Rohit Paudel, captain Dipendra Singh Airee and Sandeep Lamichhane were all still in the dressing room, so the two batters in the middle could swing freely. Lokesh Bam did exactly that. Six of his 22 balls went for six, and his 52 not out included only one four. At the other end, Sundeep Jora did the steady work. He had come in during the third over, batted through to the end and finished with 57 not out from 32 balls, with five fours and three sixes.

Between them the pair hit nine sixes. The last five overs brought 65 runs, and Japan's bowlers could not stop it. Takahashi's three overs cost 40 and Charlie Hara-Hinze's cost 30. After ten overs Japan might have been thinking about chasing something close to 120. When the innings ended they needed 150, and they never got the chance to try. The rain decided that, and it decided their tournament too.

Group A finished like this: Nepal 3 points from two games (one win, one no result, net run rate +0.842), Afghanistan 2 points (one win, one defeat), Japan 1 point (one defeat, one no result). Nepal's five-wicket win over Afghanistan on September 25 had put them in control, and this washout made them group winners. Afghanistan go through as runners-up and face India in the second quarter-final on September 28. Japan are out.

For the hosts it is a quiet ending. Their best cricket of the day came in the ten overs when they had Nepal in trouble, and the rain meant they never got to bat. Sometimes cricket gives you a chance and then takes it back before you can use it.

Our preview made Nepal "strong favourites" and said the match could hinge on the first six overs. It was partly right: Japan did well early, and Nepal were 28 for 1 in a 4.3-over powerplay, but the damage came later, in the last five overs. The no result means there is no winner to grade. Our Nepal player to watch, Kushal Bhurtel, made 4 from 12 balls. Our Japan pick, Benjamin Ito-Davis, bowled three overs for 23 without a wicket and never batted. We did not mention Jora or Bam, and they were the players who made the difference.

Nepal go into the knockout rounds as Group A winners, with Jora and Bam in form and five of their batters never needed on Saturday. Afghanistan meet India in the second quarter-final on September 28. Japan's Asian Games are over. Unlock CricIntel Pro for Asian Games cricket analysis.