NAGOYA, Japan: India humiliated a second-string Sri Lanka side by 124 runs at the Asian Games on Thursday to book a gold-medal decider against rivals Pakistan in the T20 tournament.
The day after India’s depleted one-day international team completed the second-highest successful chase in an eight-wicket win over the West Indies, Shreyas Iyer’s T20 side dismissed Sri Lanka for 45 in 9.5 overs at Korogi Athletic Park after setting them 170 for victory.
Pace supremo Jasprit Bumrah (2-7) set the tone with two wickets in the first five balls, trapping Sineth Jayawardena lbw for a duck and having number three Sohan de Livera caught behind for nought.
Panicky opener Lasith Croospulle was then run out with a ludicrous dash for a single as Sri Lanka slumped to three for two.
Two more run-outs followed as Sri Lanka collapsed on a warm and sunny afternoon, with number four Nuwanidu Fernando, the second innings’ top scorer, out for 15.
Left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma finished with 2-2 from five balls.
India were not overly impressive in their own batting against outgunned opponents, but Ishan Kishan smashed an unbeaten 80 from 46 balls to anchor their innings and opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made 38.
In the earlier semifinal, middle-order batter Abdul Samad blasted an unbeaten 30 off 15 balls to help Pakistan to a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in a match reduced to 13 overs a side due to a wet outfield.
Towhid Hridoy made 42 as Bangladesh set an imposing 112 for victory in the shortened match, with Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Sufyan Moqim taking 3-26.
The semifinalists all reached the last four by virtue of their international rankings, with all four quarterfinals abandoned due to rain.
India will bid for back-to-back men’s cricket titles, three years after taking the gold in Hangzhou courtesy of the ranking rule when their final against Afghanistan was abandoned due to rain.
