Asian Games: In the men's cricket tournament of Asian Games 2026, the Indian team has performed brilliantly and reached the final by defeating Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the second semi-final. In the match played at Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin, Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first, but the Indian batsmen made a challenging score of 169 runs for 7 wickets in 20 overs. In reply, the Sri Lankan team completely faltered in front of the Indian bowlers and was all out for just 45 runs in 9.5 overs.
With this victory, the Indian men's cricket team has assured itself of a medal in the Asian Games 2026. Now Team India will face Pakistan in the title match, where both the teams will face each other for the gold medal. The final match will be played on 3 October. The special thing is that the Indian women's cricket team has already performed brilliantly and won the gold medal. Now all eyes are on the 'Men in Blue', who will enter the field with the intention of completing the golden campaign for India in men's cricket as well.
Ishan Kishan took over the Indian innings
Team India, which came to bat first after losing the toss, did not have a very strong start. After early wickets fell early, Ishan Kishan took charge of one end. He batted brilliantly under pressure and scored unbeaten 80 runs on 46 balls. His innings included 4 fours and 5 sixes. With the help of Ishaan's innings, India scored runs quickly in the last overs and took the score to 169.
Ishaan also got good support from young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Vaibhav scored 38 runs in just 21 balls and gave initial momentum to the Indian innings with his aggressive batting. Apart from him, Shreyas Iyer scored 13 runs, while Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson were out after scoring 7 runs each. Akshar Patel scored 8 runs and Shivam Dubey scored 3 runs.
Sri Lanka's batting order scattered like a pack of cards
The Sri Lankan team, which came to chase the target of 170 runs, looked under pressure from the very beginning. Indian bowlers did not give Sri Lanka a chance to recover by taking wickets continuously. The result was that the entire team was reduced to 45 runs in 9.5 overs. For Sri Lanka, Nuwanidu Fernando scored 15 runs, while captain Sahan Arachige could score only 9 runs.
In India's bowling, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma took 2 wickets each, while Washington Sundar got one wicket. The Indian team's fielding was also effective and three Sri Lankan batsmen were run out.
Now gold medal clash with Pakistan
Before the second semi-final, Pakistan had reached the final. Pakistan entered the title match by defeating Bangladesh in its semi-final 1. Now the gold medal of men's cricket in the Asian Games will be decided by the final between India and Pakistan.
The biggest positive thing about the semi-final for the Indian team was Ishan Kishan's unbeaten 80-run innings and the collective performance of the bowlers. Abhishek may not have been able to do wonders with the bat in this match but he definitely trapped the Sri Lankan bowlers with his spin. The way India restricted Sri Lanka to 45 runs after scoring 169 runs in the first batting, the team has shown the strength of its performance before the final.
Playing 11 of Indian and Sri Lankan team
India – Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah.
Sri Lanka – Lasith Kruspule, Sineth Jayawardene, Sohan de Livera (wicketkeeper), Ashen Bandara, Sahan Arachige (captain), Nuwanidu Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Vanuja Sahan, Vijayakanth Viaskanth, Tharindu Ratnayake, Binura Fernando.