Tilak, Gaikwad and spinners fire India into Asian Games final

India won by 9 wickets (with 64 balls remaining)

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Sai Kishore and Washington shared five wickets between them as Bangladesh were restricted to 96 – a target chased down with ease

Shashwat Kumar

06-Oct-2023 • 23 hrs ago

Tilak Varma smashed 55 off just 26 balls • AFP/Getty Images

India 97 for 1 (Tilak 55*, Gaikwad 40*) beat Bangladesh (Ali 24*, Sai Kishore 3-12, Washington 2-15) by nine wickets

India’s spinners restricted Bangladesh to 96 before Tilak Varma blazed away to a 25-ball half-century to give their side a nine-wicket win and seal a berth in the final of the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games.

India’s chase got off to a shaky start with Yashasvi Jaiswal being dismissed by Ripon Mondol for a duck in the first over. Ruturaj Gaikwad, though, took over the mantle almost instantly, hitting the last ball of that over for four. In the third over, Gaikwad took down Mondol, smashing two fours and two sixes en route to a 21-run over.

Tilak came into his own thereafter and found the fence regularly. Mrittunjoy Chowdhury was the first to face his wrath, being pounded for consecutive sixes in the fourth over. Rakibul Hasan was then taken for a four and a six in the fifth as India and Tilak flexed their muscles further, ransacking 68 runs in the powerplay. Tilak hit two more sixes and got to his fifty off 25 balls – his second half-century in nine T20I innings.

Earlier in the day, India’s spinners ruled the roost after inviting Bangladesh to bat. They accounted for eight of the nine wickets that fell, ultimately restraining Bangladesh to 96.

Arshdeep Singh, India’s solitary front-line pacer, set the tone, getting the ball to move both ways and inducing several false strokes. Parvez Hossain Emon did hit Shivam Dube for a six in the second over but that remained Bangladesh’s only boundary in the powerplay.

The early pressure put by India paid off in the fifth over. Mahmudul Hasan Joy tried to hoick R Sai Kishore over the bowler’s head but only managed to shank it to mid-on. In the next over, Washington Sundar struck twice. Saif Hassan was the first to depart, spooning a catch to deep-backward square leg, before Zakir Hasan nicked through to Jaiswal at slip.

Afif Hossain and Emon tried resurrecting the innings but found the going tough. A lack of strike rotation meant that the latter felt the urge to look for boundaries. He perished in that endeavour, with Tilak the beneficiary.

Rakibul hit his first three balls for 14 runs but that was more of an aberration as India kept chipping away. Sai Kishore bagged a three-wicket haul, with Arshdeep, Tilak, Ravi Bishnoi and debutant Shahbaz Ahmed picking up a wicket apiece.

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