India finally got their Asian Games cricket campaign underway in Aichi-Nagoya, and they made an emphatic statement, beating Sri Lanka to book their place in the gold medal match against Pakistan.
After rain had disrupted the schedule, there were no such problems in Aichi-Nagoya as India completed their first match of the competition. On a difficult pitch where scoring had generally proved challenging, India posted an imposing 169/7 in their 20 overs.
The innings was set up by two cricketers from Bihar — Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan.
Vaibhav provided India with some much-needed momentum after two early wickets had fallen, smashing 38 off just 21 balls. His aggressive approach in the Powerplay ensured India did not get bogged down on a sluggish surface.
Then came Kishan.
The left-hander produced one of the standout innings of the competition, hammering 80 off 46 balls, including five sixes. His counter-attacking knock took India well beyond the totals of around 100 that have been common in the tournament so far.
Chasing 170, Sri Lanka’s hopes disappeared almost immediately. They slipped to 2/3, leaving themselves with a mountain to climb on a pitch where batting was anything but easy.
Jasprit Bumrah was outstanding on the sticky surface, varying his pace and using cutters to repeatedly trouble the Sri Lankan batters. Axar Patel then struck twice in the fourth over, effectively ending the contest. Sri Lanka were unable to recover, and India’s bowlers completed a comprehensive victory by 124 runs.
Now comes the match every cricket fan has been waiting for. India will face Pakistan on Saturday in the Asian Games gold medal match. It may not be an ICC event, but an India-Pakistan final with a gold medal at stake? It doesn’t get much bigger than this.
