India Keep Their Asian Games Gold, Beating Pakistan by 19 Runs in the Final
Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma made fifties, Hasan Nawaz nearly won it alone with 96, and India retained the men's title they won at Hangzhou.
India are Asian Games men's cricket champions again. They beat Pakistan by 19 runs in the gold medal match at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, on Saturday 3 October, and keep the title they won at Hangzhou.
The final
| | Score | |---|---| | India | 211/6 (20 overs) | | Pakistan | 192/6 (20 overs) |
Abhishek Sharma set it up with 61 from 28 balls at the top of the innings, and Tilak Varma made 51 to carry India past 200. That is a large total in any T20, and Pakistan very nearly matched it.
The reason they came close was Hasan Nawaz, who made 96 from 51 balls and kept Pakistan in the chase deep into the innings. India's spinners did enough around him to hold Pakistan to 192/6.
How India got there
India were one of four seeded teams who went straight into the quarter finals, and they did not have to bowl a ball in theirs. The quarter final against Afghanistan was washed out without play, and India went through as the higher seed.
The semi final on 1 October was one sided. India made 169/7 and then bowled Sri Lanka out for 45, the lowest total Sri Lanka have ever made in a T20 international, to win by 124 runs.
The rest of the podium
- Gold: India
- Silver: Pakistan
- Bronze: Sri Lanka, who beat Bangladesh by 63 runs (165/9 against 102)
Ten teams took part, with matches played from 24 September.
Before the Games
India's only match in Japan before the tournament was a one off T20I against the hosts at Sano on 22 September. A wet outfield cut it to five overs a side. India made 32/4, Japan finished on 30/3 needing eight from the last over, and India won by two runs.
What comes next
Several of the gold medal side go straight into the home series against West Indies, which starts in Lucknow tonight. India's women won their Asian Games final too: here is how that went.