Afghanistan, Sri Lanka enter Asiad semis

Afghanistan outclassed Hong Kong by eight wickets to reach the semifinals of the Asian Games cricket tournament on Tuesday, skittling their opponents for 63 in a one-sided contest.

It sets them up with a clash against Pakistan for a place in the final.

In the other Sri Lanka survived a scare from Nepal to win by two wickets and make it to the semi-finals against Bangladesh.

Hong Kong, who won the toss and chose to bat in the Twenty20 contest, had no answer to Afghan opening pair Shahpur Zadran and Merwais Ashraf, slumping to 15/6 in the eighth over.

Zadran grabbed 2/9 and Ashraf took 3/8 in their allotted four-over spells as the Hong Kong batsmen looked out of their depth on a pitch offering some encouragement to the bowlers.

Hong Kong staged a mini-recovery, with Jamie Atkinson hitting a six over midwicket in his 16 off 28 balls but he was bowled by Mohammad Nabi when aiming to hit out, reducing the side to 41/7 in the 12th over.

They were bowled out for 63 in 17.4 overs, with Nadeem Ahmed the only other batsmen to reach double figures, top-scoring with 17.

Hong Kong's opening bowlers Aizaz Khan and Irfan Ahmed looked lively but failed to make the early breakthroughs required and Afghanistan reached their target in the 14th over for the loss of just two wickets.

Last year Afghanistan rose to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) narrowly missed out on a place in the 50-over World Cup to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next year.

They qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 held in the West Indies earlier this year by winning qualifying rounds in Dubai.