India defeats Bangladesh to go to the men’s cricket gold-medal match at the Asian Games
India defeated Bangladesh handily in their semi-final match on Friday morning in Hangzhou, moving one step closer to capturing the gold medal in the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games.
India dominated in all departments to win by nine wickets and go to the final as Bangladesh failed to put up a fight.
India, who are participating in the multi-sport tournament for the first time, restricted Bangladesh to only 96/9 with their spinners each claiming eight wickets, while Arshdeep was the only pacer to take a wicket.
India’s batsmen quickly reached the mark in only 9.2 overs, making quick work of it.
India did lose Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck in the first over, but it was the only success Bangladesh had. The T20I match was won with 64 balls remaining by Ruturaj Gaikwad (40 not out off 26 balls; 44, 36) and Tilak Varma (55 not out; 26b; 24, 66).
Rising all-rounder Varma, who made a 25-ball fifty, celebrated his achievement in a moving way by lifting his shirt to expose a tattoo honoring his parents.
On Saturday, the winners of Pakistan and Afghanistan will square off against India.
The most effective bowler for India was Sai Kishore, who ended with fantastic numbers of 3/12 from four overs. Washington Sundar also bowled well, finishing with a clean 2/15 in his entire allotted overs.
Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, and Shahbaz Ahmed each claimed one wicket.
At the little Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, Gaikwad and Varma played with the Bangladeshi bowling and mostly dealt in fours and sixes.
Ruturaj and Tilak, who seemed to be vying with one another by smashing fours and sixes, unleashed an attack that the Bangladeshi bowlers were unable to withstand.
Sai Kishore and Washington hit together earlier to contain Bangladesh, who had trouble with the slow bowlers.
The standout batsmen for Bangladesh were Parvez Hossain Emon (23), Jaker Ali (24 not out), and Rakibul Hasan (14).
Shahbaz caught the batter in the 17th over, ending Rakibul’s cameo as Ali remained unbeaten. Tilak interrupted Emon’s 32-ball stay in the middle before that.
Surprisingly, India only included one other seamer besides Arshdeep in their starting lineup, and Shahbaz Ahmed made his T20I debut for the country.
Brief Scores: India defeated Bangladesh 97/1 in 9.2 overs (Tilak Varma 55 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 40 not out), winning by nine wickets (Jaker Ali 24 not out, Parvez Hossain Emon 23, Sai Kishore 3/12, Washington Sundar 2/15).
