India set first-ever Asian Games cricket final with Pakistan — SkimNews
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- India demolished Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the Asian Games T20 semifinal at Korogi Athletic Park, bowling them out for 45 in 9.5 overs while defending a target of 170.
- The result sets up a first-ever Asian Games cricket final between India and Pakistan, with India bidding for back-to-back men's golds after their Hangzhou 2022 title (awarded via ranking rule after rain abandoned the final vs Afghanistan).
- Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (2-7) struck twice in the first five balls, left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma finished with 2-2 from five deliveries, and Sri Lanka collapsed via three run-outs on a warm afternoon.
- Ishan Kishan anchored India's 170 with an unbeaten 80 off 46 balls, with opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi chipping in 38.
- In the other semifinal, Pakistan beat Bangladesh by six wickets in a match reduced to 13 overs per side, with Abdul Samad clubbing an unbeaten 30 off 15 balls and left-arm spinner Sufyan Moqim taking 3-26.
- The final is clouded by the handshake controversy — India's men refused handshakes with Pakistan at last September's Asia Cup, both sides skipped handshakes at the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 and ICC Women's T20 World Cup, and India's women refused the trophy from ACC president Mohsin Naqvi after the Asia Cup final in Dubai last month.
- Earlier in the tournament, India's women defended their Asian Games cricket title, with Sri Lanka again taking silver and Pakistan bronze — meaning both India men's and women's sides reach their respective gold-medal matches.
Why it matters: India-Pakistan cricket matches already carry outsized geopolitical weight, and this is the first time the sides have met at the Asian Games — a tournament where all four semifinalists advanced via ICC rankings rather than played quarterfinals (all rained out). With India's women's side having already defended their title and a year-long handshake standoff still unresolved, the men's final is inseparable from the off-field political symbolism that has come to define every India-Pakistan cricket fixture since September 2024.
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