Asian Games 2023 Men’s Cricket Points Table: Updated Standings after Japan vs Hong Kong, Match 8
Japan, on Sunday, October 1, defeated Hong Kong by five wickets in Match No. 8 of the Asian Games 2023. With the win, Nizakat Khan’s team finished on top of the table in Group B with four points and a net run rate of +3.507 thanks to wins in both their matches.
Japan, on the other hand, finished second in the table with two points and a net run rate of -0.015, courtesy of wins in one out of two matches.
In the first match of the day, Nepal defeated the Maldives by 138 runs at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou. The win meant that Rohit Paudel’s Nepal finished the league stage on top of Group A with four points and a net run rate of +10.275.
As far as the Maldives are concerned, they started their campaign with a nine-wicket win over Mongolia before suffering a big defeat at the hands of Nepal.
Hong Kong thump Japan in Asian Games 2023 match
After opting to field first, Hong Kong restricted their Japanese opponents to 127 in 19 overs. Ayush Shukla and Anas Khan picked up two wickets apiece. Ehsan Khan, Niaz Ali and Nasrulla Rana accounted for one scalp apiece.
Mohammad Ghazanfar had an off day as he gave away 13 runs off the only over he bowled and failed to pick up a wicket. For Japan, opening batter Lachlan Lake was their standout bowler. Lake scored 60 runs off 36 balls with six fours and three sixes.
Skipper Kendel Fleming also scored 32 runs off 25 balls with two fours and as many sixes. Lake and Fleming were also involved in a partnership of 39 runs for the second wicket.
Hong Kong chased down the target with seven balls to spare. Rana raced to 36 off 18 balls to take his team past the finish line.