Pakistan women enter Asiad semis

Pakistan reached the Asian Games women's cricket semifinals with a nine-wicket rout of China which left the hosts needing to win their last group game to stay alive.

China, who had opened their campaign with a 55-run win over Malaysia, were restricted to just 60-4 when they batted first on Monday with Pakistan cruising to victory in the 13th over.

Huang Zhou and Zhang Mei, with 14 runs each, were China's top scorers against a tight, well-disciplined Pakistan attack. Javeria Wadood (27 not out) and Nida Rashid (27) put on 60 for the first wicket for Pakistan with Wadood hitting her fourth boundary to bring up victory.

Despite the defeat, Huang revelled in striking a six, a rare achievement in the women's game. "This was the first six of the Asian Games but one of our batters did it in India before this tournament," said the opener.

Pakistan bowler Asmavia Khokhar praised her team's fielding which put a brake on the Chinese hopes of setting a big total to chase.

"We protected the boundaries well. So they couldn't get too many fours," she said. "They had to settle for just ones and twos."

Pakistan now have two wins in two matches in Group A following their eight-wicket victory over Thailand.

In a Group B encounter Bangladesh beat Japan by 54 runs thanks to an all-round show by Suktara. Batting first, Bangladesh made 111 for eight in 20 overs. Suktara top-scored with 37 off 45 balls. Kurumi Ota picked up 3-16 for Japan. In reply, Japan was restricted to 57 for 8 in its 20 overs with Suktara picking up 3-6.