Asian Games 2023: India Beats Bangladesh In Semi-finals By 9 Wickets (image-twitter/teamindia)
Indian cricket team enters to finals after beating Bangladesh for nine wickets on Friday at Hangzhou Asian Games 2023. The other finalist will be decided from the match between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Saturday. With this win, Indian team has been guaranteed a medal at Asian games. Though silver is assured, India will not settle for anything less than gold in the finals. It was the top-class performance of spinner Sai Kishore and explosive knocks from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma led India secure its position in the finals.
Bangladesh batting first, was reduced to 96/9 by the quality bowling line up of India. Indian won the toss and decided to field first. Though the centurion of the previous match, Yashasvi Jaiswal stumbled in the first over, Tilak Varma and Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad unleashed on the Bangladesh bowlers with sixes and fours. They knocked off the target in just 9.2 overs. The Indian pacers blew the frontline of Bangladesh. R Sai Kishore took the first wicket which was then followed by Washington Sundar blowing up two more in his second over.
The Indian spin attackers made use of the slow pitch in Hangzhou to restrict run-flows in the middle over. With light showers early in the morning, spin had the major say in the venue. Apart from India’s spin threat, the Bangladeshi batters were challenged due to poor shot selection and application. Sai Kishore outshined after picking three wickets in his second international appearance.
A last effort from Jaker Ali and Rakibul Hassan, helped Bangladesh cricket team to get 96 runs in 20 overs. Bangladesh’s last four wickets could only add 55 more runs to their score board.
While Tilak Varma, took advantage of the short boundaries and field restrictions to hit along with the skipper and the duo raced to 50 run stand in just 18 deliveries. And they have also collected 67 runs in the opening five overs.
In the gold medal match, India will face the winner of Pakistan vs Afghanistan after second semi-final on Saturday.
