India men's cricket team led by Shreyas Iyer clinched the gold medal with a 14-run win over Sahibzada Farhan-led Pakistan at Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin, on October 3. Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma’s fifties overpowered Hasan Nawaz’s spirited 96-run knock as India won their second consecutive Asian Games gold medal. Earlier in the games, the women’s team led by Harmanpreet Kaur had won a gold medal as well. This takes India's gold tally to 19. Meanwhile, this is Pakistan's second silver at the event. Their women’s team had won a bronze medal.
Also, this is Pakistan's seventh consecutive T20I defeat against India. They haven't won a T20I against India since the Asia Cup 2022.
Abhishek, Varma’s fifties take India past 200
Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek went berserk in the second over. Sooryavanshi hit two consecutive sixes and took a single. Then, Abhishek smashed a six followed by a boundary off the free-hit delivery. Saim Ayub dismissed Sooryavanshi in the third over. He departed for a nine-ball 15. In the same over, Abhishek smashed Ayub for a six and two fours. He continued to score big in powerplay overs. But, Sanju Samson was dismissed cheaply, caught at mid-on off Ahmed Daniyal's bowling. In the sixth over, Abhishek smashed two more sixes to reach his fifty from 20 balls. India were 81/2 after powerplay overs.
In the seventh over, wicketkeeper Usman Khan dropped Abhishek's catch off Abrar Ahmed's bowling. In the next over, Abhishek's carnage came to an end. He was dismissed by Arafat Minhas. The opener scored 61 runs from 28 balls including three fours and seven sixes. Skipper Iyer and Ishan Kishan could not keep the tempo up. In the 14th over, Ishan was knocked over by Minhas. He scored 20 runs from 18 balls. In the next over, Abrar got Iyer caught at covers. he scored 21 runs from 24 balls.
Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube went berserk in the slog overs. In the 18th over, Varma hit Sufyan Moqim for a four and two sixes. The penultimate over was a big one as well. Dube hit Ayub for two sixes and a four. Varma hit a boundary as well. Ayub conceded 23 runs in his final over. On the first ball of the final over, Dube got caught at deep square leg. He scored 27 runs from 15 balls. Varma continued to hit big. He hit Daniyal for two sixes. The southpaw reached his half-century from 21 balls. The vice-captain’s unbeaten fifty helped India post 211/6.
Nawaz revives run chase but 96-run knock not enough
Maad Sadaqat did the bulk of scoring during powerplay overs while skipper Farhan struggled. Sundar got the breakthrough, getting Farhan caught at deep mid-wicket for an 11-ball 10. Then, Axar got Usman caught at mid-wicket for a single-digit score. Pakistan were 39/2 after powerplay overs. Opener Sadaqat fell to Axar for an 18-ball 23. In the ninth over, Hasan Nawaz got a reprieve as a collision between Sooryavanshi and Ravi Bishnoi leg to a dropped catch. He rubbed salt on spinner Abhishek's wounds with a six. Bishnoi was unimpressive with the ball. Nawaz hit him for two sixes in the 10th over. Pakistan were 76/3 at the halfway stage.
Bishnoi took a beating again. Nawaz scored 20 runs off the leggie's third over. Nawaz hit two sixes and a four in the over. He reached his fifty from 28 balls. Dube was introduced into the attack and he got the breakthrough with Ayub's wicket. He went for a scoop but was caught for a 22-ball 29. Axar went for 14 runs in his final over, including a six off Nawaz's bat and five wides. Dube's second over was expensive as he conceded 16 runs including three fours. In the 18th over, Sundar dented Pakistan's run chase with the wicket of Abdul Samad. Saad Masood hit a six to finish Sundar's over. Pakistan needed 44 runs from last two overs. Only Masood could hit a six in the over. Bumrah made the equation 33 runs from the final over. Dube was handed the ball. He conceded 13 runs and ended the match with a wicket as India registered a 19-run win. Nawaz's 96-run knock off 51 balls went in vain. He hit five fours and seven sixes in his knock.
Sri Lanka win bronze
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 63 runs to win the bronze medal. Tharindu Ratnayake turned out to be Sri Lanka's standout player with a 32-ball 65 knock at no.7. Chasing a target of 166, Bangladesh were bowled out for 102 in 17.3 overs. Nuwan Thushara, Tharindu Ratnayake, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Wanuja Sahan were clinical in their approach, bagging two wickets each.
Ratnayake saves Sri Lanka from collapse
Sri Lanka skipper Sahan Arachchige won the toss and opted to bat first. No boundaries were scored in the first two overs. In the third over, Mahedi Hasan struck twice to dismiss Sineth Jayawardena and Lasith Croospulle. On the first ball of the fourth over, the umpire committed a blunder as Nuwanidu Fernando was given out caught being off Aliss Al Islam's bowling despite clear gap between bat and ball. In the same over, Sohan de Livera was run out. Sri Lanka were 29/4 after powerplay overs.
In the middle overs, Arachchige and Ashen Bandara struggled to score at run-a-ball. In the 11th over, Rishad Hossain ended Bandara's stay at the crease. He scored 18 runs from 24 deliveries. In the 11th over, Sri Lanka lost half the side for 54 runs. The acceleration came in the 14th over as an out-of-form Mustafizur Rahman conceded 25 runs including two no balls and two wides. One of the wides went for the boundary as well. Ratnayake smashed Hossain for a six and a four in the 15th over to take Sri Lanka to 100.
He went berserk in the 18th over bowled by Hossain. He hit two sixes and as many fours. He reached his half-century from 26 balls. In the penultimate over, Musafizur made a comeback with the wickets of Ratnayake and Dushan Hemantha. Saif Hassan bowled the last over. He struck twice and conceded 11 runs in the final over. Arachchige contributed with a 37-ball 33. Viyaskanth hit a six first ball before getting out on the next delivery.
Bangladesh’s run chase derailed early
Bangladesh's run chase got off to a horrible start. Thusara bowled a wicket-maiden, dismissing Hassan. Ratnayake made an impact with the ball as well, dismissing Tanzid Hasan Tamim for a two-ball duck. Thushara followed up the wicket-maiden by knocking over Litton Das for a golden duck. Bangladesh's top order returned to the dressing room without adding a run to the scoreboard. Ratnayake struck again. Towhid Hridoy lost his wicket for a six-ball 11. No boundaries came for the next two overs. Bangladesh were 30/4 after powerplay overs.
Viyaskanth bowled a mixed bag of a ninth over. He dismissed Parvez Hossain Emon and Mahedi Hasan but conceded 14 runs in the over. Then, Hossain was dismissed caught and bowled by Sahan. In his next over, Sahan knocked over Yasir Ali as well. He scored 21 runs from 16 balls. The collapse continued and Bangladesh were bowled out for 102 in 17.3 overs. Bangladesh had won a bronze medal at Hangzhou Asian Games 2026. This time around, their men’s cricket team return without a medal. But, Sri Lanka’s second-string side ended up securing a bronze, their first at the games.