Rain ruins India's Asian Games cricket debut, but the women's team advances to the semifinals thanks to its higher seeding.

 The Indian women's cricket team piled on the runs against Malaysia on a cloudy Thursday, but the game was abandoned due to persistent rain.

The Hangzhou residents eventually got a taste of why we let this sport consume so much of our time and daily thought. The Indian women scored a tonne of runs against Malaysia on a cloudy Thursday in the cricket quarterfinals, but the game was abandoned due to persistent rain. India advanced to the semifinals despite the game being postponed due to its better seeding. A result that confused a lot of people.

The amusement was increased by the Asian Games' official tweet, "Team India won 173/2 - 1/0 against Team Malaysia," which was published on X (previously Twitter). However, it wasn't the best endorsement to strive for here at the scenic Pingfeng Cricket Field Stadium on the Zhejiang University campus, where India's participation did spark attention.

pushing to get the sport on the Olympic schedule was not the best endorsement.

After an early morning drizzle, Malaysia won the toss and decided to put India into bat against a lengthy mountain range that was constantly hiding due to the rain clouds that were usually nearby. The area, which was formerly a sunflower field with a view of the university library, was rebuilt as a cricket field.

Smriti Mandhana, the interim captain of India, almost got her first delivery to short midwicket. But despite some subpar catching, ground-fielding, and bowling, Mandhana and Shafali Verma launched India to victory. Before the first rain delay, Mandhana smashed through the covers and swept freely to midwicket before mistiming a pull off Mahirah Ismail and getting out for a 16-ball 27.

At the restart, the game had been cut down to 15 overs, and Shafali required just one delivery before launching a full toss for her second six of the day. The opening strokeplay generated a lot of excitement among the spectators from the neighbourhood and the nearby volunteers. The opener received three complete throws on the pads, which she dutifully applied over the ropes.

One native fan described the sound of the ball hitting Shafali's blade as "perfect," and her buddy added, "It moved me." Another first-time viewer wasn't bothered by the game's stop-start structure. You respect the game's nature if you understand what it's all about, he remarked.

Three Indian expats travelled from Keqiao and Yiwu to their backyard to watch some cricket. Sanjay felt it humorous that the Chinese did not share his enthusiasm for the borders. He grinned, "They just keep waving their paper fans. They have so far been unable to reserve match tickets for the men's squad, who are scheduled to visit later this month.

Shafali hit a six down the ground to reach her fifty in 31 balls and then pushed another one over the midwicket boundary. Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali shared an 84-run partnership for the second wicket, with the third batter scoring quickly while utilising both her feet and exquisite touch. She also exerted a lot of effort between the wickets, helping the pair add 38 runs in 24 balls.

With a few strong knocks over midwicket and covers, Richa Ghosh took on the spinner Mas Elysa in the penultimate over to score 19 runs. Jemimah came in with a final score of 48 and was frustrated that she was unable to store a half-tracker of the final delivery.

In Malaysia's chase, Pooja Vastrakar could only complete two deliveries before more rain forced them off the pitch for the second and last time of the day. At 12:15 pm, the game was called off by the officials, giving India a place in the semifinal, where it would face Pakistan after its previous game against Indonesia was also called off.

But unlike the diehard cricket enthusiasts during the largely washed-out Asia Cup, the Chinese cricket fans, who are still working hard to understand the intricate nature of the playing circumstances, left a happy group. The volunteers prioritised taking pictures of first-time guests Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, who were suspended for this game, and they promptly complied. Cricket is just starting to gain popularity in China, but Indian cricketers have crossed another border.