Asian Games: Men's Cricket Semifinals: India Easily Beats Bangladesh to Enter Gold-medal Clash

India defeated Bangladesh handily in their semi-final encounter in Hangzhou on Friday morning, moving them closer to capturing the gold medal in the men's cricket Asian Games.

India controlled all departments to win by nine wickets and advance to the final, but Bangladesh was unable to mount a resistance.

Arshdeep was the only bowler to take a wicket as India, who are participating in the multi-sport event for the first time, restricted Bangladesh to just 96/9. Their spinners claimed eight wickets between them.

The target was easily reached by India's batsmen, who raced to it in just 9.2 overs.

While Bangladesh's captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (40 not out off 26 balls; 4×4, 3×6) and Tilak Varma (55 not out; 26b; 2×4, 6×6) won the victory with 64 balls remaining in the Twenty20 International encounter, India did lose Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck in the opening over.

Rising all-rounder Varma celebrated his achievement with tears as he removed his shirt to show off a tattoo honouring his parents. Varma hit a 25-ball fifty.

In the gold medal match on Saturday, India will compete against the winners of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The most successful bowler for India was Sai Kishore, who finished with fantastic statistics of 3/12 from four overs. Washington Sundar also bowled brilliantly, finishing with a clean 2/15 from his allotted overs.

Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, and Shahbaz Ahmed each claimed a wicket.

At the little Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, Gaikwad and Varma played mostly with fours and sixes, toying with the Bangladeshi bowling attack.

The assault initiated by Ruturaj and Tilak, who appeared to be fighting with one another to knock fours and sixes, was too much for Bangladesh's bowlers to handle.

Earlier, Bangladesh was unable to get much going against the slow bowlers thanks to the combined efforts of Sai Kishore and Washington.

The three standout batsmen for Bangladesh were Parvez Hossain Emon (23), Jaker Ali (24 not out), and Rakibul Hasan (14).

Rakibul's cameo was cut short when Shahbaz had the batter caught in the 17th over, but Ali was still not out. Tilak ended Emon's 32-ball stint in the middle before that.

Surprisingly, India only included one seamer in their starting XI, Arshdeep, while Shahbaz Ahmed made his T20I debut.

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Brief Scores: India 97/1; 9.2 overs (Tilak Varma 55 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 40 not out) lost to Bangladesh 96/9; 20 overs (Jaker Ali 24 not out, Parvez Hossain Emon 23; Sai Kishore 3/12, Washington Sundar 2/15) by nine wickets.