Kishan’s 80 sends India to Asiad final against Pakistan
Ishan Kishan’s calculated 46-ball 80 on a difficult track laid the foundation as defending champions India hammered Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the Asian Games men’s cricket semifinal here on Thursday to set up a gold medal clash with arch-foes Pakistan.
Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (38 off 21) took India to 169 for seven in 20 overs on a turning track after Sri Lanka put them in to bat on winning the toss.
While chasing the 170-run target, the island nation first collapsed to 31 for six inside the powerplay before being eventually bundled out for 45, which is the joint lowest T20 International total by a Test-playing nation. West Indies was dismissed for the same score in 2019 against England.
Jasprit Bumrah struck twice in his opening over and was then joined by Axar Patel, who also claimed two wickets. “We have to perform in both batting and bowling to win. We’ve been waiting for some days, there was a lot of rain around. To switch on and perform like this after a long break is commendable,” Axar said after the match referring to the washed out quarterfinal against Afghanistan and cancellation of practice sessions due to the inclement weather here.
Sri Lanka’s collapse included two run-outs, which was ample proof of them being rattled by the pitch and the loss of early wickets.
The odd ball was flying off the surface, sowing doubts in the batters’ minds. In the end, India took just 9.5 overs to dismiss them. The Lankans will now fight for bronze in the play-off against Bangladesh, who were beaten by Pakistan earlier in the day.
Both the bronze medal and the final will be held here on Saturday.
The build-up to the India-Pakistan showdown will once again be dominated by the chatter on whether the two teams will shake hands.
The Indian players have refused to exchange pleasantries with their Pakistan counterparts in the Asia Cup and ICC events since Operation Sindoor last year to show solidarity with the Indian armed forces.
It remains to be seen if the management sticks to status quo or there is a handshake with the Pakistan players after the game, a protocol that has been followed by athletes of others sports in the Asian Games.
India and Pakistan players will have to share the podium irrespective of what happens in the final, like the women’s team did after winning gold last week.
In the clash against Sri Lanka, India decided to bring back Sooryavanshi into the playing eleven for the knock-out game alongside Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson considering the spin-friendly conditions here.
They left out left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh with Bumrah being the only fast bowling resource available to them.
Similar tactic was employed by a second-string Sri Lanka, who tried to spin a web around the Indian batters after opting to bowl first and was largely successful.
If it weren’t for the ‘’X’’ factor of Sooryavanshi and Kishan, India would have ended up with a much lower total.
For a change, it was a sunny morning here as both teams took the field for the first time in the competition.
With the ball turning a fair bit in the powerplay, it was clear that the game would be dominated by the spinners.
Only two overs of pace were used by the Sri Lankans. Abhishek (7 off 3) perished after smashing a straight six off Sri Lanka captain Sahan Arachchige. The left-hander tried to make room but ended up offering a regulation catch at short third man.
