Ishan sets up, bowlers whip it up: India fix gold medal bout with Pakistan
India and Pakistan will cross the path once again as they will face-off for the gold medal at the Asian Games on Saturday. Having received a bye till quarterfinals, which was washed out because of rain, defending champions India faced Sri Lanka in the semifinals on Thursday, whom they brushed aside with ease.
To put things in context, India are fielding their first-choice T20I squad led by Shreyas Iyer whereas Sri Lanka took the field at Nisshin with three debutants with none of their regulars featuring in the tournament.
Having taken a strong team to Asian Games, the gold is definitely India’s to lose. But still the unfamiliarity with the conditions and the pitch did have the potential to make it challenging.
That they took the field with only Jasprit Bumrah as the lone seamer said much about how well they read the conditions. But going into the final, it is worth keeping an eye on the cracks that are all over the pitch.
Having largely remained indoors because of the torrential rains, India were in control the moment they posted 169/7 after being asked to bat first. On a pitch that had plenty of cracks that caused uneven bounce and spinners’ extracted square turn, Indian batsmen’s high-risk, attacking approach reaped their downfall.
But Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ensured his team got a head start with a quickfire 38 off 21 before Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 80 off 46 deliveries took the game away from Sri Lanka. The chase happened to be a non-starter with Sri Lanka folding up for a paltry 45 to give India a massive 125- win and thereby ensuring a medal.
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/DjHV9q6htT#AsianGames pic.twitter.com/P4kb2TXIRE
It was a day where India had to thank Ishan. India’s top three of Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson came up with their usual intent. But on a pitch that was on the slower side, the Sri Lankan spinners ensured Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson’s stay was minimal. While Sooryavanshi immediately found the range, it was only when Ishan arrived did India take complete control of the game. Captain Shreyas Iyer too struggled for timing, falling early that put India in a spot of bother. But Ishan, walking in at No 5, calmed any nerves with a typically attacking knock.
What served Ishan the best on the afternoon was how well he used his reverse-sweeps and explored the off-side field when Sri Lanka spinners tried to take the ball away from him. Whenever they landed in his arc, he happily freed his arms and swung straight, ensuring the pressure never got to India even as wickets kept falling. Like the top-order, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube and Tilak Varma didn’t contribute much, leaving the responsibility completely to Ishan. Purely given the conditions, this would be a knock that would give the left-hander plenty too cherish as more than the runs he made, it was his application that matted the most.
Blown away Chasing 170, which was already a tall-order, premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah straightaway got down to inflicting damage. In the first over, he trapped Sineth Jayawardena with one that appeared to go with the angle before it nipped back in like it happened with Keaton Jennings in 2018. Two deliveries later, he found Sohan de Livera edge with Samson grabbing a diving catch. Those two blows in the first over meant Sri Lanka didn’t recover from the calamitous start, as their top three failed to score a run.
Of late, India’s fielding has been under severe scrutiny, but on the day they ticked boxes on the front. The three run-outs including two direct hits were a testimony to that. Once Bumrah provide the breakthroughs the spinners took over, with Shreyas using the pacer only for one more over as Sri Lanka crumbled without putting up a fight. In all, five of their batsmen were dismissed for zero with Nuwanidu Fernando being the lone one to touch double figures. Axar Patel got two wickets in his three overs, Washington Sundar got one before Ravi Bishnoi finished off the tail with two wickets in the five deliveries he sent down. Sri Lanka will now face Bangladesh for a bronze-medal match.
That fixture will be followed by India versus Pakistan gold medal contest. Like Sri Lanka, even Pakistan have a young side but in captain Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub have batsmen who can play an innings that can make the difference. If the pitch continues to remain like this, it could potentially make the contest tight, but India undoubtedly enter the final as firm favourites.
Brief Scores: India 169/7 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 80 not out, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 38) beat Sri Lanka 45 in 9.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 2/2; Jasprit Bumrah 2/7, Axar Patel 2/8) by 124 runs.
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