India beat Pakistan in Nagoya to claim Asian Games T20 gold
India beat arch-rivals Pakistan by 19 runs in the Asian Games Twenty20 final in Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday, winning 211-6 to 192-6 to take the gold medal and complete a golden double for the country.
The match was staged at the Korogi Park Athletic Stadium, a converted baseball field, in front of a small but raucous crowd; the captains refused the customary pre-match handshake and India’s players paraded their national flag after the victory. The neighbouring sides only meet in international tournaments on neutral soil because of political tensions, and the game drew hundreds of millions of viewers back home on television.
India, described in the report as the T20 world champions, chose to bat and posted 211 for six in their 20 overs with Abhishek Sharma scoring 61 and Tilak Varma finishing 51 not out. Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi began aggressively, striking back-to-back sixes off Saad Masood in a second over that cost 24 runs, but he fell four balls later for 15; Abhishek reached his fifty off 20 balls to strong applause.
Pakistan’s fielding lapses aided India’s innings: Abhishek was dropped twice and should also have been run out on 46 when Ahmed Daniyal’s throw missed both stumps and the wicketkeeper with the batter stranded. After Abhishek departed for 61, Ishan Kishan fell for 20 and captain Shreyas Iyer was out for 21, leaving India 133 for five in the 15th over as Pakistan began to regain control.
A late surge from Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube swung momentum back to India; Varma hit four sixes and Dube added 27 as the pair combined for a 62-run partnership in five overs for the sixth wicket to push India past 200.
Chasing 212, Pakistan began strongly with Sahibzada Farhan (10) and Maaz Sadaqat putting on 33 in 3.4 overs before Sadaqat was out for 23. Hasan Nawaz accelerated the reply, reaching a fifty off 28 balls with five sixes and, supported by Saim Ayub, built a partnership that reached 87 before Dube induced Ayub into a false shot that Washington Sundar took running in from square leg to make it 126-4 at the start of the 15th over.
Hasan continued to drive Pakistan’s chase and they required 52 from the last three overs when Sundar induced Abdul Samad to hit to long-on. At 168 for five with two overs remaining, Jasprit Bumrah’s over cost 11 runs, leaving 33 off the final over bowled by Dube; Hasan fell attempting a big shot on the last ball, finishing on 96 off 51 deliveries with seven sixes and five fours.
Sri Lanka secured the bronze medal by beating Bangladesh by 63 runs in the third-place playoff, and India’s women had earlier won gold after beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final on 22 September.
