One more win and the Rhinos are in contention for a maiden medal in men’s cricket at the Asian Games.

Whether Nepal will progress as either the group topper or the second-placed team—or get knocked out (in the worst-case scenario)—will be decided on Saturday morning when the Rhinos face hosts Japan.

Nepal defeated Afghanistan by five wickets at Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, Japan, to increase their hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals as one of the top two teams from the group.

Winning the toss and batting first, Afghanistan could only manage 102/7 in the first innings. Kushal Bhurtel and Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi picked four and three wickets, respectively.

In turn, Nepal chased the paltry target with five wickets and 16 balls to spare. Sundeep Jora (34 off 35), Rohit Kumar Paudel (33 off 32) and Dipendra Singh Airee (15 off 18) top-scored for Nepal.

The win marks a major milestone for Nepal.

Nepal and Afghanistan were once on almost equal footing in cricket. Nepal, during their maiden T20 World Cup in 2014, had defeated Afghanistan. Afghanistan, on the other hand, had knocked Nepal out of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, from the quarterfinals.

The 2014 Asian Games was the last time Nepal faced Afghanistan. Twelve years later, the rivals came face to face on the same stage, with Nepal seeking redemption.

And that redemption came in Japan.

Nepal, Afghanistan and Japan make up Group A. There are Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman in Group B. After a single round-robin group-stage competition, the top two teams from each group qualify for the quarterfinals.

Four ICC full members of Asia—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka—are waiting in the quarterfinals. The topper of Group A faces Sri Lanka while the runner-up faces India. Similarly, Group B topper faces Bangladesh, and the runner-up will face Pakistan.

“This win over Afghanistan has huge importance for us,” Airee, Nepal’s T20I skipper, said after the win. “Now, if we defeat Japan, we might have to face Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals.”

Bowlers’ domination

Bhurtel, who went out for a duck, was the player of the match against Afghanistan. It was because of his bowling.

Bhurtel bagged four wickets in his four overs—giving away only 21 runs. He also bowled a maiden over during the 15th over, taking two consecutive wickets and giving away two runs as leg byes.

Similarly, Rajbanshi gave only 13 runs in his four overs, where he picked three wickets. Airee and Sandeep Lamichhane remained wicketless, but gave only 21 and 18 runs, respectively.

Nepali bowlers gave only six runs as extras—two wides and four byes. The overall disciplined bowling was what helped Nepal restrict Afghanistan to a low total and chase it successfully.

But it is not only Nepal’s match in the ongoing Asian Games where bowlers have had an upper hand. It has been the same in other fixtures as well.

Afghanistan could only manage 129/6 while batting first against Japan on Thursday. But as Afghanistan could pull off a quality bowling display, Japan were bundled out for 81.

Likewise, Hong Kong could only post 81/9 against Malaysia on Thursday. But as Hong Kong’s bowling was not top-notch in the match, Malaysia could chase it in just 12 overs.

In the other match on Friday, where Hong Kong faced Oman, Hong Kong gave a target of 122 runs to Oman. But Hong Kong improved their bowling and were able to restrict Oman to 80/6 in the second innings to win the match and keep their hopes for the quarterfinals alive.

Only one match each remains in both groups. And none of the teams has guaranteed their seat in the next stage.

If Japan defeat Nepal and Oman edge Malaysia on Saturday, the two teams progressing to the quarterfinals will be decided by net run rate as all teams would have won one match each.

“Whether it is bowling or batting, I have loved cricket a lot since my childhood. I just want to help my team win,” said Bhurtel. “It is a different thing that I would prefer batting, but I am happy to have helped my team win today with the ball.”

Further, the performance against Afghanistan meant extra to Bhurtel personally. The reason: he was making a comeback.

Bhurtel was dropped from the senior team after a poor performance during Nepal’s tour to the Netherlands for the ICC CWC League-2 in July. He was included in Nepal ‘A’, the team that toured Australia for the Top End T20 Series, when the senior team headed to Malaysia for the ACC Men’s Premier Cup.

But Bhurtel has some more games to prove his worth again. His latest test will be against Japan on Saturday.

Japan will not be easy

Japan is an emerging cricketing nation. But the island nation, one of the most powerful countries in the world in terms of economy and technology, has been investing heavily in the gentleman’s game.

The last time Nepal met Japan was during the Asia & EAP Qualifier for the 2026 T20 World Cup in Oman in October last year. It was after 25 years that the two teams were facing each other.

Japan were expected to be an easy opponent to beat. However, the scenario was different.

Japan gave Nepal a decent target of 132 runs to chase, with a 60 off 46 by skipper Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming. Nepal struggled for a while as the Rhinos lost five wickets before completing the chase in 18 overs.

Japan and Nepal started international cricket’s journey together, from the first edition of the ACC Trophy in 1996. Nepal then chased Japan’s target of 73 runs in 15 overs and won by eight wickets. It was Nepal’s first win in international cricket.

Nepal’s second encounter with Japan was in the 2nd ACC Trophy hosted in the Himalayas in 1998. However, the fixture—without the toss taking place—was abandoned due to rain.

Japan did not see proper investment in cricket over the years but there have been improvements of late.

In 2018, the Japan Cricket Association introduced a five-year (2018-2022) strategy under the title “Building a Brighter Future”. Then they qualified for the U19 World Cup, redeveloped Sano City International Cricket Ground and formed a cross-party parliamentary group to support the sport.

Their second five-year strategy (2023-2027) aims to recognise cricket as a flourishing sport in the country by attracting new fans, participants and partners through competition on the world stage. Japan’s investment in cricket has been applauded even by the sport’s great Sachin Tendulkar.

And the way Japan performed against India—with the likes of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh in the squad—recently, Nepali fans are not too sure that Nepal could defeat Japan.

Japan and India played a match—of five overs each—on September 22. India posted 32/4, and Japan almost chased it down. Japan were restricted to 30/3.

Nonetheless, the Nepali squad seems confident not only of defeating Japan and progressing to the quarterfinals, but of bagging a medal. And the win over Afghanistan has only boosted that dream.

There is every possibility that Nepal can win a medal in the Asian Games, skipper Airee said. “We have been playing well recently, and we have a squad of experienced players.”

The Nepali squad also attributed the win over Afghanistan to the support from hundreds of fans who turned up for the match in Nisshin. But the Nepali crowd could be smaller on Saturday as the match is against the hosts, Japan, which could also draw a good number of home-team supporters.