Nepal did not lose a game in Nisshin, and rain has sent Sri Lanka into an Asian Games semi-final against India
A third straight quarter-final was washed out without a toss on Tuesday morning, and Sri Lanka went through on the ICC T20I rankings.
Sep 29, 2026
Nepal did not lose a match at the Asian Games, and they are going home anyway. Their quarter-final against Sri Lanka at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin was called off at 8:20am local time on Tuesday, 40 minutes before the scheduled start, after rain had soaked the ground again. No toss, no ball, and Sri Lanka go through to face India in the semi-finals on Thursday, 1 October.
It is the third quarter-final in two days to be abandoned without a ball bowled. Pakistan beat Hong Kong and India beat Afghanistan the same way on Monday.
The ranking decides it again
The Asian Games playing conditions have no reserve day for the knockouts. When a game is washed out, the side higher in the ICC men’s T20I rankings goes through. Sri Lanka are ninth and Nepal 14th, so the tie was settled the moment the game was called off.
That is a hard way for Nepal’s tournament to end. They beat Afghanistan by five wickets in the group stage and were 149 for 4 after 15 overs against Japan before rain ended that game too, which was enough to finish top of Group A. That Afghanistan win was their sixth T20I victory in a row, and they leave without a defeat on their record here.
None of that is Sri Lanka’s fault. They were one of the four seeds given a bye into the quarter-finals, and the rule was written before the tournament began. They won gold in Incheon in 2014 and are now one win from a medal match.
India against a new-look Sri Lanka
Shreyas Iyer’s India are the defending champions. They won gold in Hangzhou in 2023 on the same ranking rule, after rain ended the final against Afghanistan.
The Sri Lanka squad in Japan is not the one England swept 3-0 in the T20Is this month. Sahan Arachchige is captain of a side that includes four uncapped players, with Niroshan Dickwella back in the T20I squad for the first time since 2021. India will start as favourites if the weather lets them play at all.
If Thursday is washed out too, India go through to the final on that same ranking.
Bangladesh and Malaysia next
The last quarter-final is later on Tuesday, when Bangladesh play Malaysia at the same ground at 10am IST. The winner meets Pakistan in the other semi-final. Bangladesh are the higher-ranked side, so a fourth washout would send them through as well.
The medal matches are on Saturday, 3 October. So far the rankings have picked three of the four semi-finalists without a ball being bowled.