CHENNAI: Ishan Kishan's unbeaten 46-ball 80 helped India beat Sri Lanka in the men' cricket semifinal match of the Asian Games and set up a gold medal clash against Pakistan on Thursday. In the process, the Hangzhou Asiad gold medallist also assured themselves of a medal. Pakistan had earlier beaten Bangladesh in the other semifinal to qualify for the gold medal match.
While India were always favourites, they lost four wickets in the first half of the innings, and it looked like they were in trouble. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma had gotten out early. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was brought in for the match and he was joined by skipper Shreyas Iyer. However, he got out for 38 from 21 balls and soon Iyer followed suit.
India, at one point, were reduced to 87/4 with Kishan and Axar Patel in the middle. With patience being the need of the hour, Kishan showed restraint as he tried to build a partnership with Axar. Together, they added 25 runs in 4.1 overs before Axar fell. Kishan, however, kept the innings going for India.
His calculated onslaught, picking up a boundary or two every over to keep up the run rate, meant India were on course for a safe total. In the death overs, he put his foot down and accelerated, taking India to 169/7.
While the total itself put India in a safe zone, they needed early breakthroughs. And Jasprit Bumrah provided just that, taking two wickets in the very first over. India did not let go of the pressure, reducing Sri Lanka to 33/6 in the powerplay. It was only a matter of time from there on as the Men in Blue bundled out Sri Lanka for 45 to register a 124-run win.
Brief scores: India 169/7 in 20 ovs (Kishan 80 n.o, Sooryavanshi 38; Sahan Arachchige 2/28) bt Sri Lanka 45 all out in 9.5 ovs (Abhishek Sharma 2/2, Axar Patel 2/8, Jasprit Bumrah 2/7).