India defended 211/6 to beat Pakistan 192/6 by 19 runs in the Asian Games men's cricket final in Nisshin and retain their gold. Hasan Nawaz made 96 off 51 and was out off the last ball of the match, four short of a hundred.
India beat Pakistan by 19 runs in the Asian Games men's cricket final at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, this morning (Saturday 3 October). India made 211/6 and held Pakistan to 192/6, keeping the gold they won at Hangzhou 2023. It is their second successive men's cricket gold, and with the women's team already champions at these Games, India complete a golden double. Reuters reports the women beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs in their final on 22 September.
| Scorecard summary | |
|---|---|
| Result | India won by 19 runs |
| India | 211/6 (20 overs) |
| India batting | Abhishek Sharma 61 (28), Tilak Varma 51* (22), Shivam Dube 27 (15) |
| Pakistan bowling | Arafat Minhas 3-25, Ahmed Daniyal 2-43 |
| Pakistan | 192/6 (20 overs) |
| Pakistan batting | Hasan Nawaz 96 (51), 5 fours, 7 sixes; Saim Ayub 29 |
| India bowling | Axar Patel 2-29, Washington Sundar 2-29, Shivam Dube 2-33, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-33-0 |
| Bronze | Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 63 runs (Reuters) |
The chase and Nawaz's 96
Hasan Nawaz kept Pakistan in it almost on his own. He was dropped on 4 off 11 when Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at long-off and Ravi Bishnoi at long-on collided and spilled a catch off Abhishek's bowling, and he then hit three sixes off his next five balls. He and Saim Ayub put on 87 off 48, with Nawaz contributing 57 off 26 of it. Ayub was caught by Washington Sundar off Dube for 29, and Pakistan were 126/4 at the start of the 15th over.
Pakistan still needed 86 from 35 balls after Ayub went. Jasprit Bumrah bowled the 19th over with 44 needed off 12 and conceded only 11, which left 33 for the final over. Dube bowled it: four off the first ball, a wide, then a pinpoint yorker. Nawaz slogged the fourth ball for six, then was caught by Sanju Samson off Dube off the last ball of the match. His 96 came off 51 balls with five fours and seven sixes, leaving him four runs short of a hundred.
How India built 211
Pakistan opened the bowling with spin from both ends and brought on Saad Masood, a legspinning allrounder on T20I debut, in the second over against the left-handed pair of Sooryavanshi and Abhishek. The over went for 24 (three sixes and a four) and Masood was pulled from the attack. Sooryavanshi was caught behind off Saim Ayub off the first ball of the next over, attempting a reverse sweep, and Reuters reports Saim gave him a rocking-baby send-off.
Abhishek hit seven sixes in his 61 off 28 before he fell stepping out to left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas. Minhas then bowled Ishan Kishan, and India were 142/5 after 16 overs. They scored 69 off the last four, with Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube putting on 62 in five overs for the sixth wicket (SuperSport). Tilak reached his fifty in 21 balls and finished the innings with 6, 6, 2, 1. Dube made 27 off 15. Reuters notes 211 is the highest total of the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
What it means
This was a full-strength India against a second-strength Pakistan, and it was closer than that sounds. India hit 15 sixes to Pakistan's 10, but their fourth, fifth and sixth bowlers (Bishnoi, Abhishek and Dube) went for a combined 100 in eight overs, and Nawaz gave a game India had twice looked to have won a tense finish. Dube had also bowled a nervy final over in the T20 World Cup semi-final earlier this year, conceding 22 when England had needed 30. This time he had 33 to defend and got there.
India now lead Pakistan 4-3 in finals of major tournaments (five or more teams) across formats, which is up from 3-3 coming into the day.
Build an XI that can defend a total
Bumrah's 19th over and Dube's last-ball finish are the kind of calls BuildXI hands to you. You spin eleven real IPL squads from 2008 to 2025, take one player from each, and play a full season with the XI you end up with. Big hitters win you matches, but you need bowlers who can hold a lead when the other side is chasing 33 off six. The target is 14-0: fourteen league games, fourteen wins.