India beat Pakistan to win Gold medal in the Asian Games T20 cricket in Japan

India beat Pakistan by 19 runs in the men’s T20 gold-medal match at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, and defended the title they won at Hangzhou in 2023.

The final was at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, on a converted baseball field, in front of a small but loud crowd. India, the T20 world champions, posted the tournament’s highest total, 211/6, and held Pakistan to 192/6 despite Hasan Nawaz’s 96.

Shreyas Iyer chose to bat. Pakistan opened with spin from both ends, and the plan collapsed almost immediately. Saad Masood’s first over went for 24, including two sixes from 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and he was taken off. India reached 50 in 3.2 overs and 81 in the Powerplay on a surface that offered spin.

Sooryavanshi made 15 off 9 before gloving a reverse hit to the keeper off Saim Ayub, who sent him off with a rocking-baby celebration. Sanju Samson went for 2. Abhishek Sharma, ranked second among T20 batters, was dropped and survived a run-out chance, then reached fifty in 20 balls. He finished on 61 off 28, with seven sixes and three fours, before Arafat Minhas had him stumped in the eighth over.

The middle overs tightened. Ishan Kishan (20) was bowled by Minhas, and Iyer (21 off 24) fell soon after to Abrar Ahmed. India went 34 balls without a boundary and were 133/5 in the 15th over. Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube then put on 62 in five overs. Dube hit 27 off 15, including successive sixes off Ayub, before holing out in the last over. Tilak tore into Ahmed Daniyal, reached fifty in 21 balls, and finished 51 not out off 22 (three fours, four sixes). A catch was dropped off the last ball. India closed on 211/6 at 10.55 an over. Axar Patel was 1 not out. Minhas was the best Pakistan bowler with 2/25; Ahmed Daniyal took 2/43.

Chasing 212, Pakistan never got the start they needed. Jasprit Bumrah extracted extra bounce. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar tied them down and struck early. They were 39/3 after six overs: Sahibzada Farhan 10, Usman Khan 3, Maaz Sadaqat 23.

Hasan Nawaz and Saim Ayub then added 87. Nawaz was dropped, Sooryavanshi held a catch, then collided with Ravi Bishnoi, and responded with sixes. Bishnoi’s three overs cost 44. Ayub made 29 off 22 before Dube had him caught attempting a scoop.

Abdul Samad, who had starred in the semi-final, managed only 9. With 68 needed off four overs, fielding stayed loose, but Sundar’s 18th over went for eight and removed Samad. Bumrah’s penultimate over cost 11, leaving 33 off the last, bowled by Dube. A four and a wide opened it, then a yorker took the equation out of reach. Nawaz, on 96 off 51, was caught behind off the last ball. Saad Masood was 12 not out. Pakistan finished 192/6.

This is India’s second successive men’s cricket gold at the Asian Games and, by one count, their 19th gold of the Aichi-Nagoya Games. The captains did not shake hands before the match. Afterwards India paraded the flag. Reports also framed the win as India’s seventh successive T20I win over Pakistan since 2021.

Medal table in men’s cricket: gold India, silver Pakistan, bronze Sri Lanka. In the women’s event India took gold, Sri Lanka silver and Pakistan bronze.